West Midlands Teenage and Young Adult Service for cancer patients

with a twist this week for our TYA Book Club - Summer Reading Raffle! Check out all of these amazing books very kindly donated to us from Birmingham National Literacy Trust
If you want to join us, please let Cathy know ASAP!

It's 'Ofishal'.... this month we are going to attempt to bake this 'fintastic' cake with The Big Bakes in Birmingham. If you would like to join us for this fabulous 'oppor-tuna-ty', please let your YSC know asap to join young people from the East and West Midlands for our Big Bake - East and West Midlands

Please see details from Young Lives vs Cancer about their post treatment group running this month ⬇️

What a way to round off another Book Club! We were joined by Sue Cunningham to chat about her debut book 'Totally Deceased', along with cakes and ghosts, audiobooks and her Dog, Indie amongst other things. One lucky book club member won a signed copy of the book too!
If you are interested in reading, and would like to join us for our Summer Book Bonanza, please let your YS know.

Please note that the YSC phone will be off from Friday 24 May to Monday 3 June- any messages will not be responded to until I return.

Don't forget we are now on Instagram too - pop over and give us a follow 😊 https://www.instagram.com/uhbtya/

This July, as part of , these four charities will be hosting a virtual event supporting teenagers and young adults in getting back into health and fitness with a wellbeing evening.

The evening will include a fun quiz, wellbeing advice and a guest speaker who will share their personal story and experiences.

Attendees will also receive a gift from either Bone Cancer Research Trust or Sarcoma UK to support you in your wellbeing journey.

Who: 16-24 year olds
When: Monday 1st July 2024
Time: 6:00 pm -8:00 pm (GMT)
Where: Zoom link to be provided

We are taking expressions of interest as places are limited for this event, so please complete the form as soon as possible and we will let you know in a few weeks if you have been allocated a space:

If you have a Primary Bone Cancer diagnosis, please click https://ow.ly/QSZr50RJxYk

If you have a Soft Tissue Sarcoma, please click sarcoma.org.uk/16-24-years-old-in-treatment/

This event is in collaboration with Teenage Cancer Trust , MOVE Against Cancer Charity , Bone Cancer Research Trust
and Sarcoma UK

We hope to see you there! 🧡

Had a lovely evening on Wednesday Bisque & Bean with young people getting together for painting, pottery and pizza (big up The Plough Harborne 😋)
"It's always nice and really therapeutic to spend time with people who have been through something similar"

Ready....Set....Bake!!
Following our highly successful Bake Off last year, we have joined forces with the East Midlands to take over the whole tent this summer! Places are limited - if you would like to get your name down, please contact your YSC (places will be allocated firstly to those who have not attended this event before)

Thinking of picking up a book? Why not find out more about our which is a great chance to meet others, try reading something new or just something to do for distraction! Here is a quote from one of our readers

We need your help! TYA has been running since 2020, and we have read 15 different books over this time, and have now been joined by 4 different regions across the UK 😍 We have also had 4 authors join us to chat about their books, and have even had a mentioned in the acknowledgements of one of our reads 🤩
We would love to hear from you if you have been involved in book club at any point, and for you to share a quote about your experience of being part of this activity. Please either send by email, text or whatsapp to your YSC

Yesterday (25/4) was Anzac Day which is a public holiday in Australia. As a nod to the collaborative work that we do with young people and staff at Canteen Australia, inpatients on Teenage Cancer Trust YPU had the chance to try anzac biscuits with their Costa Coffee UK 😋

Can you help? ⬇️

Reducing Cancer Health Inequalities Amongst Young Adults through creative community engagement.

Project Aim: Targeted community awareness initiatives and engagement to focus on early diagnosis and promotion of Cancer symptom awareness amongst the South Asian and Afro- Caribbean community. Flourish (the West Birmingham Health Collaborative) is recruiting young people (aged 18-25 years old) to the West Birmingham Young People’s Cancer project, working specifically with people from the South Asian and Black Afro-Caribbean Community. We are looking for young people to support the work of a transformative pilot.

What are we looking for? We are looking for young people who are passionate about improving health outcomes for young people and adults in West Birmingham . South Asian and Black Afro-Caribbean communities in West Birmingham are experiencing the most challenging health issues and are often not heard. To ensure we are inclusive of the needs of this community we are particularly keen to receive applications from those aged 18–25, are from a South Asian or the Black Afro Caribbean community, live in or have access to communities in West Birmingham.

What skills or experience do I need to have? We are looking for young people with different skills and experience. We encourage anyone who is passionate about improving health outcomes and working with communities to get in touch. Being confident in engaging with people is key, as you will be expected to hold engagement sessions to impart health information, to better understand people’s views and experiences of cancer service and capture this information. Don’t worry – you don’t need to know about every area of the NHS or about Cancer! As a YA Cancer champion you will
• Attend 1 co-design workshop.
• Attend training to equip you with the knowledge and skills to engage your communities
• Deliver activity/engagement sessions with the identified communities
• Gather feedback from your communities – We will help you with this!
You will need to be able to commit to roughly 14-16 hours for the duration of the project over a period of approximately 9 months. This may increase depending on the additional opportunities you choose to get involved in your time. What we will offer:
• YA Champions will be supported throughout their time on the project. The project manager is the direct contact for any questions, queries, or concerns you have.
• The project manager will support you to actively participate in the co-design workshop
• Training to build your confidence to delivery activity and engage your community
• Support you to plan and deliver any activity/engagement sessions.
• Provide support at all in-person events
• Identify individual development and engagement opportunities to help you work on the skills which matter most to you. The YA champions role is a paid opportunity due to the level of responsibility. Below is a breakdown of the payment:
• Each champion will be remunerated for their time for a standard fee. This will be £180 for the stated hours.
• Each YA will also be offered a budget to deliver their activity/engagement sessions. This is an exciting opportunity as YA champions can make a difference to the confidence of people accessing cancer care, and the healthcare provided to children, young people and their families across West Birmingham.

For further information and to express your interest get in touch with the YA cancer project lead [email protected]. Applicants will need to submit their EOI by 10th May 2024.

Thank you to everyone that put your name forward for our chocolate giveaway on Insta Live last Friday. Well done to the winners and everyone that took part (and thank you for lightening our chocolate load!!!🤣)

If your Easter chocolate stash is all gone, quick reminder to text Cathy by 10am on Friday to be entered into the Insta Live at 12pm to win chocolate 🍫

**FIRST INSTAGRAM LIVE INCOMING!!!**
We have been gifted one huuuge Incredible Egg that we would like to share with you- if you would like to be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize (Easter may have come and gone, but chocolate tastes just as good whatever the day!) please text or email Cathy by 10am on Friday 19 April. Winner will be drawn on our very first Instagram live at Midday on Friday 19 April 🤩 (PS - there is likely to be more prizes too, but you've got to be in it to win it!!!)

Great news to share for a Friday, and if you look closely, you may well see some faces that you recognise!!!
Aldi UK have raised a phenomenal amount to support the work of Teenage Cancer Trust, but in doing this, they have also raised so much awareness about the support needs of Teenagers and Young Adults with cancer.
We regularly raid the Aldi shelves for snacks and random middle aisle items to support the work that we do with young people in hospital and as part of our virtual events, and this is all possible to the very kind donation of monthly vouchers to support this ❤

Every day, seven young people aged 13-24 hear the words "you have cancer". Enter Teenage Cancer Trust – the only UK charity dedicated to providing specialised nursing care and support. But they can’t do it alone.

Thanks to the incredible effort and generosity of our team and customers (that’s you lovely lot), we’ve raised a whopping £10 MILLION for Teenage Cancer Trust 🎉 This money could provide 5 years of funding for:

🧑‍⚕️30 specialist nurses

🤝 15 Youth Support coordinators

📚 4 Multidisciplinary Team Coordinators

We want to say a MASSIVE thankyou to everyone who helped us reach this milestone. You’re all proper good eggs and you amaze us every day 💙 Here’s to the next £10 million 👀

To find out more about our partnership with Teenage Cancer Trust, head to https://www.aldi.co.uk/corporate/partnerships/teenage-cancer-trust

A bit of tasty fun for TYA inpatients today to follow our Trivia with Canteen Australia last week! Similar biscuits, but which one gets the vote?!
Arnott's Biscuits
Aldi UK
McVitie's
Teenage Cancer Trust

Last week we hosted a joint trivia event with Canteen Australia… winners from the UK won these Aussie goodies! 🪃

Love to see when people make their bed spaces their own whilst an in patient. One such person spends a lot of their time farming, so it only seems only fitting to have farming related Lego builds on the window sill!! 🚜

This was very kindly donated to us by a previous patient and has been waiting for a frame to show it off!!!
It is very special in that this piece was started whilst an in patient, finished throughout treatment and recovery, and then given back to the ward when they came back to visit feeling happy and well ❤️

For any TYA's with a Primary Bone Cancer diagnosis, check this our from Bone Cancer Research Trust

This April, we are providing £10 Costa Coffee vouchers to UK patients aged 13-24 who are in active treatment or receiving follow-up care. Parents with children under 18 must apply on their behalf and vouchers will be allocated on a first come first served basis ☕

Claim yours now: https://ow.ly/Orfu50R49pg

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating ☪

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating ☪

As the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close, we are wishing all Muslims across Birmingham and Solihull a happy and blessed Eid al-Fitr, from all of us at .

did you know Romesh Ranganathan is a Teenage Cancer Trust Icon, and he is currently on tour! Keep an eye on your texts from me over the next week or so for an exciting opportunity 🤩

Romesh Ranganathan | Teenage Cancer Trust Stand-up comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor Romesh Ranganathan became Teenage Cancer Trust’s Comedy Icon in September 2023.

**FIRST INSTAGRAM LIVE INCOMING!!!**
We have been gifted one huuuge Incredible Egg that we would like to share with you- if you would like to be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize (Easter may have come and gone, but chocolate tastes just as good whatever the day!) please text or email Cathy by 10am on Friday 19 April. Winner will be drawn on our very first Instagram live at Midday on Friday 19 April 🤩 (PS - there is likely to be more prizes too, but you've got to be in it to win it!!!)

This time 2 weeks ago, some young people from the West Midlands region made the trip to London to the Royal Albert Hall for the annual Teenage Cancer Trust Ultimate Backstage Experience.
They not only got to see Blossoms and Noel Gallagher perform on stage, but we’re lucky to have a Q&A with them backstage before the gig.
As part of the event, they also had a tour of the historic building, the chance to contribute to an original piece of music supported by Alberts Band and the chance to go on stage and take the .
For more info on the week of gigs, check out Teenage Cancer Trust social channels 🤩
Thanks to the amazing support from Aldi UK and Domino's Pizza for helping make to these experiences happen