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Hope Support Services is the UK charity providing support to young people (aged 11+) when a family member is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, such as cancer.

A life-threatening diagnosis can bring with it a huge sense of fear and uncertainty, especially for young people. They can become confused, angry and isolated and disengagement with family, friends and education is all too common.  We know this from our founder’s own experiences, which led directly to the creation of Hope Support Services in 2009.

Hope provides a free, safe, online service which can be accessed from anywhere across the UK. The service includes a peer support community where young people can talk to others going through a similar situation, confidential one-to-one sessions with a trained online worker and bespoke fortnightly support groups for young people going through times of extreme stress such as studying for GCSEs or moving away to university.

Regionally, Hope also delivers face-to-face support which includes regular youth sessions, respite breaks and the chance to chat privately with a trained Youth Development Officer. 

Please help spread the word and give what you can so that Hope can help every young person, scared of losing someone they love, to access the support they need. 

Hello, I’m Sian Williams. You may recognise me as ITN’s main anchor on Channel 5’s ‘5 News’.

As well as my work in journalism, my other passion is exploring how we can recover when a traumatic experience changes our life.

Just over two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was one of my most challenging times and one of the hardest things was worrying about how my children would cope. This is why I’m proud to support the work of Hope Support Services as it can provide reassurance to seriously ill parents that their children are being supported.

A health crisis affects everyone in the family. Having Hope Support Services there to help young people if they’re struggling to cope can really make a difference, both to the parents and their children.

Please help Hope continue to deliver this vital work by donating what you can today.

Thank you. 

17-year-old Emily is a media student from Gloucestershire. She first came into contact with Hope Support Services three years ago, after her mother, Sarah, was diagnosed with cancer. The family has since learnt that the disease is terminal.

Throughout this period Emily has used Hope’s online support as well as attending local youth sessions run by the charity in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

Emily says, ‘I used to get stressed out about everything. I was having a lot of time off lessons. I basically just started giving up and my student mentor referred me to Hope. I got involved with them and everything started going up from there.’

‘It’s really comforting to know [Hope] are there…They make me smile when I don’t feel like smiling.’

Sarah says, ‘to know that Hope is there for Emily is incredibly important. I think when the time comes and I do die, I think knowing that Emily will have support is one of the most important things to me.’

Melissa, 23, started university in 2015 and is studying to become a vet. In her first year at university she received the news that her father’s cancer, which he had been fighting since 2011, was terminal. Mel’s father passed away in 2016.

During this period Mel was referred to Hope Support Services.

She says, ‘If Hope was a charity where I could just meet face to face, I wouldn’t have attended many sessions but because it’s online and it’s convenient... you can do your uni work and talk to somebody (on Facebook) at the same time.’

‘Sometimes I will be watching something and triggers will remind me of Dad and I’ll end up having to message Hope just to talk to someone and calm me down’

‘Without Hope support and Hope online, I probably would no longer be at University and I probably wouldn’t be here.’