Childhood Cancer Ireland is a charity founded by and led by parents of children with cancer and survivors.
As a parent and survivor-led charity, we understand that a diagnosis of childhood cancer has a devastating impact on the entire family. We help to ease the burden of diagnosis and treatment on children and their families by raising funds to provide practical and emotional supports.
We also advocate for better supports and services for families, as well as better treatments and outcomes for children, adolescents and young adults.
Our Mission
Our mission is to achieve health justice for all children diagnosed with cancer in Ireland.
We want to ensure that more children survive childhood cancer and thrive as adults through early diagnosis, access to less toxic treatments and a holistic approach to support for survivors and their families, who are dealing with the long-term effects.
Our Aims
- Raise awareness of childhood cancer
- Fund emotional supports and services for children with cancer and their families
- Be the voice of children with cancer in Ireland
From the beginning, we have worked closely with Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin now known as Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin, and other organisations to identify the critical needs of families and to fund selected projects.
As a member of Childhood Cancer International, we work closely with sister organisations globally.
Childhood Cancer in Ireland
In the world of childhood cancer, a child is a patient up to the age of 19. In fact, Ireland is reconfiguring its paediatric cancer services to tie in with Europe and include all patients under the age of 24.
On average 328 children, adolescents and young adults (aged 0 – 24 years) are diagnosed with cancer every year. Treatments are harsh and can cause life-long side effects. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer living in Ireland and thankfully, due to improved treatments, this number is growing.
The most common types of childhood cancers include cancers of the blood (leukaemia and lymphoma), brain tumours and solid tumours, such as neuroblastoma and Wilms tumour.
Know the Signs
Thank you to the Grace Kelly Trust for this graphic, which outlines the signs and symptoms of childhood cancer.
You will find more information at https://www.gkcct.org/i-am-worried-my-child-may-have-cancer
Dr Michael Capra, Consultant Paediatric Oncologist at CHI at Crumlin,
reiterates that awareness of the signs is key.
“The signs and symptoms can look very innocuous on their own, so we are looking for persistent or recurring signs. Please remember, if your child has some of these symptoms, it does not mean that they have cancer.
But it’s important that they are seen by a doctor, who can rule out a more serious problem. More than likely, it will be something minor, but we want to catch those rare cases where it’s something serious as early as possible.”
