Situation so tough for parents

BEING told that your child has cancer is a devastating thing for any parent to hear.

However, once you have that diagnosis, the main thing is to ensure your child gets treatment at a specialist centre.

In Scotland there are three such centres – the royal children’s hospitals in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

That means families who live far away from these areas face the added strain of travelling to them or moving to one of the cities for extended periods of time.

We help these families by providing a home from home.

They can stay free of charge for as long as they need, whether that’s one night, several months or longer.

These families are under financial pressure too.

Quite often both parents give up work while their child is being treated.

And that drop in income comes at a time when these families face added costs of about £600 a month because of their situation.

It’s also tough for them to be so far from their family and friends – the very people they rely on for support.

However, we are there to help in any way we can.

Often, families staying at our homes end up supporting each other as they go through the same ordeal.

Specialist centres have improved outcomes for kids with cancer because of the very fact experts are working at the same location.

So while it might be hard for families to travel to these centres, they are the best places for their children to be.