This podcast episode was a conversation between Robert and John who are the dads of Adele and Fiadh. Adelle was diagnosed with cancer as a teenager and Fiadh when she was 4 years old. Both dads met at Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and formed a strong bond. They discuss mental health support for dads, their ‘dad’s club’ at the hospital, the strength of girls, and the importance of being on the same page with your partner.  

As a warning, this episode includes a bit of swearing, sometimes graphic conversations about childhood treatment for cancer and bereavement.  

Young Lives vs Cancer has a Facebook group for dads and male carers called ‘Mind the Chaps’ providing emotional, practical and peer support for dads across the UK. If you’re a mum check out our Young Lives vs Cancer for parents and carers group. Cancer Fund for Children runs multiple workshops, peer support and short breaks for parents. Contact them for more info.  

Relate NI and Action Cancer offer couples counselling to those who would benefit from those services  

Here are some bereavement charities and organisations who support families who have lost a loved one: Marie Curie, Anam Cara, Child Bereavement UK, The Compassionate Friends, Cruse Bereavement Support and Hope Again, Winston’s Wish, and Barnardo's Child Bereavement Service 

If you’d like to get in touch with Young Lives vs Cancer 

If you’d like to get in touch with Cancer Fund For Children 

Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding this podcast as part of our ‘Together we Thrive’ project and enabling us to share these stories.   

This was a conversation between Mark and Jaime which explored two different experiences of mental health throughout cancer treatment with the shared message to ‘speak up not man up’. Their advice is that your mind is the most powerful thing and it will get you through but you need to look after it. Think about who is supporting you. What are you looking at online? Is social media helping or hindering you. Have aims! Like exercise or a nice event. Talk to others who have been through something similar. And lastly- everyone and every situation is different so do what works for you.  

Read Young Lives vs Cancer’s Hidden Costs Report here 

Join Teenage Cancer Trust’s Not Ok campaign here  

If you’d like to find out more about the Crossfit Move Forward Programme running in Northern Ireland you can read about it on the Young Lives vs Cancer website here and follow them on Instagram @crossfitmoveforward. You can also check out Marks coaching page @mark_adams_coaching 

The Here2Help app aims to provide helplines for users to get support instantly while also providing a wide range of links to reading materials that can help people in their time of need. Download now for free for Android and Apple. Or check out Minding Your Head for services in your area.  

Other Mental Health charities and organisations that provide excellent support are: Aware, Pure Mental NI, Lifeline, Samaritans, PIPS, The Mix UK, Action Mental Health & Mindwise.  

For cancer specific support check out Macmillan, Cancer Focus NI , Action Cancer and Charis for their counselling services.   

If you’d like to get in touch with Young Lives vs Cancer 

If you’d like to get in touch with Cancer Fund For Children 

Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding this podcast as part of our ‘Together we Thrive’ project and enabling us to share these stories.   

This podcast episode was a conversation between Conor and Daniel who were diagnosed with cancer during their teenage and young adult years and met at a games night. They talk candidly about not taking on the cancer patient identity as a means of reclaiming control as they navigated diagnosis, treatment, and life post-cancer. They chat about the language around cancer, feeling obligated towards others' feelings, and the shame of attending a fertility clinic at 17 years old with your mum. This was a refreshingly honest and funny conversation which we would recommend to anyone considering entering a health or social care profession. 

If you’d like more information about sperm banking check out this leaflet from Belfast Trust / The Regional Fertility Centre or this information from the Cancer Research UK website. If your child is diagnosed with cancer before puberty there are less options to preserve fertility however research is growing in this area. Check out the Future Fertility Trust’s information on Testicular Tissue Cryopreservation. 

If you’d like to get in touch with Young Lives vs Cancer 

If you’d like to get in touch with Cancer Fund For Children 

Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding this podcast as part of our ‘Together we Thrive’ project and enabling us to share these stories.   

In this podcast Laura and Simon from Young Lives vs Cancer and Helen and Neil from Cancer Fund for Children discuss the services both charities provide to children, young people, and their families with a cancer diagnosis in Northern Ireland.

They discuss the uniqueness of their jobs, how they got those jobs, and share some advice for any young person or family listening who may find themselves joining the small community of children and young people diagnosed with cancer in Northern Ireland.  

If you’d like to get in touch with Young Lives vs Cancer 

If you’d like to get in touch with Cancer Fund For Children 

Here is a list of some other amazing charities in Northern Ireland and beyond we work with that may also be useful for you and your family: Teenage Cancer Trust, Alike, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, Cancer Focus NI, Macmillan, Action Cancer, Friends of the Cancer Centre, The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity