Today – Thursday 29 February – Tom’s Trust stands with The Brain Tumour Charity to launch their campaign urging the Government to implement a National Brain Tumour Strategy across all four nations of the UK.
Tom’s Trust is one of 34 supporters/brain tumour focused charities gathering in Parliament Square, London, to represent the average number of people who are diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK each day. Each supporter is holding a photo of a loved one lost to this disease – our Co-Founder Debs is holding a photo of her son Tom.
Tom’s Trust was founded by Tom’s parents Debs Mitchell and Andrew Whiteley after he died from a brain tumour, aged nine in 2010. Little support was given to their family as they navigated his terminal diagnosis, and they grew determined that no other family should go through what they had experienced alone. Tom’s Trust now provides mental health, wellbeing and psychological support to 536 children (0-19) and their families (around 1,608 additional family members) in the UK.
Approximately 600 children aged 0-19 are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year. 1/3 of the children will die and of those that survive, 62% will be left with life-long disabilities (such as blindness, hearing loss, lost motor-function or learning disabilities). Tom’s Trust fully supports this push for a National Brain Tumour Strategy across the UK.
The Brain Tumour Charity has identified four priorities for the strategy:
- Ensure fast, efficient diagnosis.
- Improve care for those with brain tumours.
- Promote access to new treatments.
- Improve the research landscape.
The Brain Tumour Charity, and Tom’s Trust, believe it is essential to tackle the uniquely devastating disease which is not addressed by existing Government cancer plans.
Members of the public are being urged to head to The Brain Tumour Charity’s website from 29th February to sign the online Open Letter supporting the call for the National Brain Tumour Strategy.
Debs Mitchell, Co-Founder of Tom’s Trust, said: “At Tom’s Trust we’re challenging the way people prioritise mental health and providing children with instant access to a psychologist at the point of diagnosis. I’m very happy to get involved in what I think is an incredibly important campaign. Thank you to The Brain Tumour Charity for making these vital pushes for better care.”