Teenage Cancer Trust supports #StandWithTrans campaign
Teenage Cancer Trust is supporting Charity So Straight’s #StandWithTrans campaign, which is running this week (3rd – 7th July).
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- Category:
- LGBTQ+
We’re proud to support Charity So Straight’s #StandWithTrans campaign. We’re committed to being an organisation that strives for equity.
Teenage Cancer Trust’s Chief Executive Kate Collins has signed an open letter which as part of the campaign will aim to kickstart an important conversation within the charity sector about LGBTQ+ inclusion and act as a positive response to anti-trans rhetoric which is rising globally.
Kate said: “We’re proud to support Charity So Straight’s #StandWithTrans campaign. We’re committed to being an organisation that strives for equity, and that means ensuring that trans colleagues feel welcome as part of our team, and trans young people and members of young people’s friend & family networks who are trans feel safe to be themselves when we support them.”
Teenage Cancer Trust has a strategic objective to focus on equity, to make sure no young person with cancer is left behind.
Teenagers and young people with cancer have unique needs which differ from children and older adults with cancer. This age group face particular barriers to help, including being the most likely age group to have to see their GPs multiple times before they are referred. Research from the British Journal of Cancer found that young people who wait two months or more for a diagnosis were more likely to have clinical depression and anxiety, whilst those with multiple GP consultations before diagnosis were more likely to be clinically anxious1.
Discrimination and prejudice add an extra layer of difficulty to already challenging circumstances, with research showing that young LGBTQ+ people are ‘significantly’ more distressed when seeking cancer treatment due their fear of being discriminated against2. The detrimental impact caused by a lack of equity can last into adulthood.
Real change means more than rainbow flags and celebrating Pride events
Teenage Cancer Trust have been working to make young trans people feel supported and to create a culture where staff are educated and supported to be confident and competent on EDI topics, including workshops on trans identities and language.
Teenage Cancer Trust’s clinical information team have created a page on their website for LGBTQ+ young people with cancer to help them navigate their situation. This includes information on what to expect from care teams, stories from other LGBTQ+ young people with cancer and a list of where to find additional support.
Additionally they have made their recruitment process more inclusive, introduced and EDI policy and established employee network groups.
Kate Collins said: “We’ve put down some foundations, but we know that there is a lot more to be done until we can be confident that we’re an equitable organisation, for the young people we exist to support, their friends and family and our staff. However, we’ve made progress - I’m proud of how far we have come, and we’re committed to doing more.”
Zainab Al-Farabi, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Lead, said: “We’re really proud of what we’ve done so far to lay the foundations to be a leading organisation for LGBTQ+ inclusion, but we know we’ve got more to do. We are taking steps to move beyond awareness raising and realise that real change means more than rainbow flags and celebrating Pride events. We’ll be working closely with our LGBTQ+ network, trans experts and young people to make sure we don’t lose momentum in our journey to becoming a truly trans-inclusive organisation.”
Notes to editors
For more information, contact Kat Harrison-Dibbits, Head of Communications, on 07833 523295 or email [email protected].
1 https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/thri/research/health,_culture_and_society/out_with_cancer