CancerCare wins award for acting on views of young people

Listening to young people and acting on their ideas has earned CancerCare North Lancashire and South Cumbria a special award.

The charity has won an ‘Investing in Children’ award for its pioneering work with young people.

Young people who are part of CancerCare’s ‘Refresh’ youth project met with Eleanor Seed from Investing in Children (IiC). Eleanor, a project manager with IiC, was so impressed with the work that the young people and CancerCare had done that she gave the charity the Investing in Children award that same day.

Eleanor said: “We are a human rights organisation that works with children and young people to ensure they have a voice in organisations. 

“The Investing in Children award is a national award. About 500 organisations across the UK and abroad have achieved it.

“Organisations have to demonstrate how they listen to children and young people. They also must show that they have made changes on the advice of the young people.

“What’s interesting is that the children and young people are the adjudicators of the award. They decide whether or not the organisation deserves it.”

CancerCare has been working with a group of young people, who meet regularly to discuss ways in which the Children and Young People’s Service can be improved and developed as part of a three-year development project. 

To date the charity has responded to the suggestions that young people have made, such as children being able to consent for counselling themselves, designing a teenage counselling room, developing a peer support group and running a summer programme for young people who have had similar experiences.