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Apr 2, 2025
Beyond the Diagnosis: How Teens Unite Is Helping Young People Reclaim Their Lives
Beyond the Diagnosis: How Teens Unite Is Helping Young People Reclaim Their Lives
00:00
24:34
Transcript
0:00
[gentle music] Welcome to The Voices of Our Towns, the podcast where we bring you the stories, people, and passions shaping our local communities.
0:09
In this episode, we are highlighting a truly inspiring Broxbourne-based charity, Teens Unite.
0:16
I sat down with Roxanne, the CEO, who shared the powerful story behind the organization, the vital work they do to support young people facing cancer, and the moving feedback they receive from those who've been through their programs.
0:30
We also talk about the future of the charity and how it hopes to grow its impact in the years to come. It's an uplifting and emotional conversation and a reminder of the incredible work being done right here in our town.
0:44
So get a cuppa. Let's dive in. [gentle music] Roxy, do you wanna introduce yourself, please? Yeah, of course. I'm Roxanne Lawrence, the chief exec of Teens Unite Fighting Cancer.
0:56
It's my absolute pleasure and privilege to be featured in the Brox Town podcast and broadcast today, so thank you for having me. You're very welcome.
1:05
I think it's been really, really interesting at least hearing some of the things that you guys do, some of the testimonials from people who have actually used your services.
1:13
I think it'd be great if we can hear directly from the horse's mouth and if you can just tell us anything. It'd be great for our readers and our listeners to hear f-directly from you. Of course.
1:26
So Teens Unite exists to support teenagers and young adults living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis. So we are a national charity that was founded in Broxbourne 18 years ago. We turned 18 this year.
1:39
So even though we support young people across the country through our national meetups and regitu-regular digital sessions, actually for the people in the local community, it's really important.
1:49
So anyone that has had a cancer diagnosis as a child, um, is very much entitled to reach out to us to have support if they're during their teenage years.
1:56
Anyone between the ages of 13 to 24 who are struggling with the impacts of a current cancer diagnosis or are on active treatment.
2:05
Actually, Teens Unite plays a very unique space in the charity market where we understand that the impact of cancer extends well beyond that medical environment and the hospital environment, so we provide support to also those people who have...
2:17
are years into remission but are struggling in their teenage years with impacts and lasting impacts of their cancer or its treatment.
2:24
So if you were diagnosed as a child and you need support now, we're very much here for you. Oh, that's fantastic. Mm-hmm.
2:31
Do you guys focus or at least target the parents of these people who would then reach out and explain maybe their children or how do you guys get in touch with these people who would need your services? Of course.
2:43
So it's a completely self-referral system. Teens Unite believes that cancer takes away every other choice that you have, so you should have the choice for accessing the support that you need.
2:51
So our registration process is really simple. Young people can register themselves, parents can register a young person, or hospital workers or medical professionals can also refer a young person. It's really simple.
3:02
You can either give us a, a call on our office number or you can go onto our website, which is Teens Unite, so T-E-E-N-S-U-N-I-T-E.org.
3:12
Um, it's a really slick and straightforward registration process, and then a member of my team will give you a call to find out what support it is that you're looking for and very much look to involve you in our activities.
3:24
So young people are our primary focus, so the majority of our care and support is about the reintegration of young people post their cancer diagnosis.
3:31
So whether that be emotional, social or physical recovery and support.
3:35
Um, we have regular meetups every month where we provide them with an opportunity to rediscover themselves, whether that be physically or creatively or educationally.
3:44
Um, our ambition very much is to ensure that young people have the opportunity to return back and thrive post their diagnosis.
3:51
But we do understand that cancer impacts other people, not just the young person, and the guardians of that young person or the siblings of that young person are also very much impacted during that journey.
4:02
So we do have sessions throughout the year where we target specifically siblings or guardians and parents to say, "Actually, we understand that the impact of cancer can have a knock-on effect on you and your family," and through that we offer support to those too.
4:16
Brilliant. So accessibility and inclusivity are obviously a significant part of our support regime. So at the moment, we have four in-person sessions every month and four digital sessions.
4:27
So what that means is there is a huge variety of different activities.
4:31
Yesterday they had an over 18s event in Central London at Bounce Pong, so it was very much a kind of event about relationship building and opportunities to interact and meet.
4:40
We've done an art and beauty session earlier in the week where it was about physically how do you feel after a cancer diagnosis? How do you adjust your appearance? How can you be confident in your own body?
4:51
Some of our sessions are alongside educational providers, so it'll be about how you can fill the gaps in your education since your diagnosis or look at opportunities to integrate into employment, 'cause we know that young people who have a cancer diagnosis are obviously excluded from school for periods of time, and therefore that has a knock-on impact on their long-term employment opportunities.
5:11
So we work with some incredible brands across the country. We're working with some brands like YouTube and Google later in the year where it's about providing employment opportunities for young people.
5:22
So our activity really spreads across all of the different needs that young people have, whether that be kind of physical, creative, educationally, and about creating a connection and a community around them.
5:33
For those that are well enough, they're invited to come and attend those as sessions in person, and so we hot spot those across the country so they can make sure they're outreach for everybody.
5:41
But obviously our digital sessions are there so that if you are unwell enough or unable to commute for logistical reasons or health reasons, you still have the opportunity to be able to access our support and be included.Great.
5:53
Thanks very much. What about any sort of partnership with schools? Do you guys have any sort of partnership with schools or do they have a role that they play in terms of referring or helping with the integration?
6:05
So very much. So we're not an advocacy charity, so we're not here to inform the schools about the impacts of the, the integration opportunities for young people.
6:13
However, we do work with all of the local educational providers to say actually, you know, the likelihood of young people being diagnosed, so one in seven get diagnosed.
6:22
We are there to say that this could be an impact that your school experiences so that they're aware should they need to be able to refer a young person, obviously they can.
6:30
And also if they needed support or advice, we're obviously very happy to provide that to them. But yeah, we don't have a kind of educational program that we go into schools and deliver. Brilliant.
6:40
And I wanted to understand a little bit more about how you guys spending a lot of money trying to host these events and make sure that these children are reintegrated. How are you guys funding these activities?
6:56
Of course. So we're a completely self-funded charity, and what that means is we have to raise all of the funds that we need to be able to support the young people we support.
7:02
The more funds we raise, the more the young people we can help. We have lots of different ways that young pe- people can get involved, not just young people, but anybody.
7:10
So that can be your kind of traditional, we could be your charity of choice should you be looking to make a donation, whether that be a one-off donation or a regular donation, or equally if you're looking at, if you're an organization and you work for a corporate partner and they're looking to say, "Actually, I, as part of our kind of corporate social responsibility, we want to work with an organization in the community," we're doing lots of that with some really incredible organizations in the community.
7:32
Watch this space or have a look on my LinkedIn for who they are 'cause I'm not sure if I can reveal them just yet, but they're coming soon. Brilliant. Also, we rely on the community.
7:40
You know, we are a national charity, but we are very much a charity that was founded in Broxbourne, and our heart very much will always stay here. So the community have been absolutely incredible to us.
7:50
We couldn't do what we do without their kind of fundraising.
7:52
So we have some exciting opportunities should anyone want to do the kind of crazy fundraising things people do, run, jump, swim, dance, whatever it is you want to do in aid of charity, we would absolutely love to work with you, so please reach out and let us know.
8:06
We're happy to help organize those kind of opportunities with you if it's something you want to do as a collective group.
8:11
So for example, later on in the year, we've got a group of 20 people who are fundraising, and they will cycle across Sri Lanka to raise funds for Teens Unite. We have an overseas challenge every year that we do.
8:21
Last year a group went to India. We've got 40 people this year hitting the ballroom, so they'll be learning to dance alongside professionals, and they'll perform in front of their friends and family a dance routine.
8:33
If it's a community event that you're looking for, this year we're running a color run with St. Joseph's in the Park school on the 11th of May. We've got a gala dinner on the 16th of May at Churnbury Farm.
8:45
We've got our, bringing back our Wormley It's a Knockout Family Fun Day, which I'm sure lots of you will have seen or heard about before, on the 13th of July.
8:53
So they're kind of three key events happening in the Broxbourne Hertfordshire community. Some of you will also know that we've had a retail outlet in Hoddesdon for a little while now.
9:03
We closed down when we moved offices, but actually we're reopening that next Wednesday the 2nd of April. So that will be opening on 14 Falcon Walk in Hoddesdon. So again, come along, have a look.
9:14
All of the stock in that store is donated direct from retailers.
9:17
It's all brand new, but we're able to sell it at discounted prices, and then 100% of the proceeds from that store come directly straight back into Teens Unite.
9:25
So by shopping with us, buying high street products, you will be donating to a charity.
9:30
So yeah, there's lots of ways local people can get involved and help, but equally, if your kind of listeners or readers are further spread afield, they can still very much be involved and support. That is fantastic. Yes.
9:42
Is anyone running for Teens Unite this time? We have got some runners this year. Oh, brilliant. We don't get lots of places in the ballot, unfortunately. That's a kind of big charity kind of role.
9:52
We have got some ballot spaces next year, and we've got a couple of runners running for us this year.
9:56
But again, if anyone gets their own space in the ballot and would like to be able to have a charity to run for, then again, please do think of us. We would love for you to run for us.
10:04
Or if you haven't and you want a space, we have got some spaces to run in next year's London Marathon. So do get in touch and we will draw those out ahead of the event. Well, you've heard that.
10:14
So if you're running or if you're climbing, whatever it is you're doing, you're looking for a charity to, to support, I think, you know, you can't get any better than, than Teens Unite. I was gonna ask another question.
10:25
Yeah. How close, closely knit are you with the, the, the council? Yeah. Maybe with the, the county council as well. Yeah.
10:33
What sort of, what sort of role do they play in supporting the work on the, the work you do with the teens?
10:39
So we have a fantastic relationship with the county council, and Broxbourne Council, particularly the leader of the council, is a very strong ambassador of the work that Teens Unite do.
10:48
We're really excited that they happily endorse the activities we deliver both in the community and further afield, which is really exciting.
10:55
We have some very exciting news, which is, uh, s-slightly hot off the press, I suppose, for your listeners. Breaking news. Yeah. Breaking news. Some people may have heard a little bit about it.
11:03
So we've recently moved to a new location on White Stubbs Lane in Broxbourne.
11:09
Our ambition would be that we embark on opening the first dedicated facility where young people can come and have short residential stays away from the medical environment, away from their families to give some respite for those people that are around, but equally an opportunity for them to be teenagers around other teenagers who completely and utterly understand what they're going through.
11:28
Teenagers get a bad rap, and they're definitely not as bad as what they are, and these young people have had a significant period of their key development years removed from them, and they deserve the opportunity to have the skills, confidence, and reassurance injected back into them so they can go on and thrive.
11:45
Fantastic. I think you guys have heard it. If you're gonna...
11:47
If you wanna know a bit more about it, make sure you get, reach out to them, and I think there's a lot of information that hasn't been shared yet that you might wanna know if you start looking, uh, on their website or reaching out to them directly.
12:00
There is another question I wanted to ask. With these activities, I'm sure there are-Testimonials that you have where people have come through, and then they've come out the other end better.
12:12
Their life, they will look back and say, "If it wasn't for you, life would've been a bit me- worse than it is."
12:18
Can you tell us one or two stories of where people have come through to you and have come out looking much better than they were before? Yeah, of course. I think that is the trajectory that people don't realize.
12:29
You know, anybody, you know, one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer, which is absolutely horrifying stat, but particularly during those kind of key development transition between a childhood to adulthood years is so critical.
12:41
And all of the young people we meet, small-ish charity, that we actually meet those young people in person and can impact on their lives.
12:48
And the cr- kind of transition you see from that fear of, "Actually, I don't wanna be part of a cancer group," you know, they don't wanna be, have cancer themselves, let alone be part of a kind of cancer group.
12:57
So they come in either through referral with their, from their nurse or practitioner, or their parents have said, you know, "This young person is excluded, isolated, won't go to school.
13:06
They're at home on their own, and they're really struggling to integrate back into life."
13:10
Through the support that we provide them, they meet up with other young people who are on a different stage of their diagnosis to them, which actually is where the magic happens 'cause they can see hope in the fact that another young person has been through that fear.
13:21
Or equally, they can provide that hope to another young person who's just starting on that journey. The sense of community they create is absolutely incredible. And then we really do see those young people flourish.
13:31
So our goal is, and we do, are currently hitting and exceeding that goal, is that 95% of the young people that we interact with return back into education or employment and actually have the opportunity really to flourish in life.
13:43
Choose some, but I will mention a young gentleman who was probably one of the first young people I ever met when I became involved with the charity seven years ago.
13:51
A young boy called Tyler, who's not a young boy anymore. He's a very grown-up gentleman.
13:55
But he was at a really dark and challenging place in his life where he was on a trajectory to be a very successful professional footballer.
14:04
He was living his kind of childhood dreams and the dreams of all his peers, and through his cancer diagnosis, he obviously was unable to then to play sport. He then was not included in school. His peers
14:16
excluded him from their activities. He was completely and utterly isolated and alone and had all of his dreams removed from him.
14:23
I'm absolutely delighted to say that not only is he one of the best motivational speakers I've ever listened to, and that's not what he does in his job.
14:30
He's just been and done some fantastic endorsement speaks at talks alongside Teens Unite. He is, you know, changed his career direct- trajectory.
14:39
He's now a very, very successful, probably more successful than maybe if he'd have been a professional footballer, and has just started a family and just got married to his beautiful wife.
14:49
And actually, what he refers to is we gave him a lifeline.
14:52
So lots of young people talk about medically surviving cancer, but actually having the opportunity to live life again, and that's very much what Teens Unite provides for the young people that we have the absolute pleasure of interacting during their, their journey.
15:07
That is just breathtaking. I think there's nothing as good as having someone or group of people who will help transition your life when you thought it was heading the wrong way, and then they will bring it back to life.
15:21
I think what you guys do is incredibly great. I just wanted to ask one quick one. Of course, you're not the only one doing this. Mm-hmm.
15:29
What sort of group of people, what sort of team do you have that supports this incredible work you guys are doing? Of course. We are very privileged. We're a team of 12 people.
15:40
That's everything from all of our fundraising that we have to raise and all of the activity we deliver for the young people.
15:47
So we are completely split [laughs] in terms of who's doing what and the kind of activity we have to generate the income.
15:53
Some of those events I spoke about, whether that be community event or national events, and equally the kind of activity we deliver for young people.
15:59
So actually, part of my team have been off-site at Reading this morning where we're delivering our residential stay later in April.
16:05
They are extremely talented, very passionate individuals who gift us their skills and expertise and are equally as passionate as I am to make sure that we can positively impact the lives of others.
16:17
Alongside that, we are surrounded by an absolutely incredible army of volunteers who gift us their time and expertise, whether that be through helping in our retail unit that I referred to earlier, helping us at fundraising events, whether that be through raffle ticket selling or donation collecting or the kind of traditional barbecue sales and stalls.
16:35
Equally to incredibly talented professionals who help us lead our Empowered for Employment program that give young people access to industries and sectors that they wouldn't have access to without the support of us.
16:46
Not only do I have an incredible team around me on a daily basis, we also have an absolute army of volunteers who without them we couldn't do what we're trying to achieve. The UK economy is not doing very well.
16:58
[laughs] Does that reflect in how people help or support? Yes and no. The charity sector as a whole has seen general donations decrease year on year for the last few years.
17:10
We're delighted to say that actually Teens Unite haven't seen that. Funding mix has changed different- you know, has changed over that time.
17:18
So previously, individual giving, so one person putting money in a bucket or giving money as they're out and about, was much higher, and that has decreased.
17:26
But we understand that because the pocket pinch, I suppose everybody, particularly those at that point, has changed.
17:32
So what we've tried to do as a kind of innovative charity is look at, okay, ways that we can involve people.
17:37
So actually let's have family fun days where, yes, you are making a charitable donation by participating in our color run, but you're actually having a nice family day out too.
17:46
So we're seeing a change in the way that people donate. So again, our retail store, so people are purchasing things that, you know, is a, a thrifted purchase, so it's r- significantly reduced.
17:57
You could go out and buy exactly the same item in the high street at the current time. We work with some absolutely fantastic brands, so do come in and have a look. But you get it much cheaper with us.
18:06
But again, that's then 100% proceeds to the charity. So-Yes, the economy is impacting the charity sector.
18:13
We're seeing a bigger demand on our services, so young people don't have access to the kind of activities that we're able to provide them, which is completely free of charge.
18:21
So we make sure that every young person that attends an event with us, they have a contribution to their travel. So, you know, there shouldn't be any restrictions that stop them from integrating and participating.
18:32
And we are seeing our demand for that kind of support, financial support to be able to participate, but also the need for young people to want to do nice things, whereas previously they may have been...
18:40
well, have been able to afford to do them themselves go up. So yeah, alongside that kind of strain on donations- Mm...
18:47
we've seen an increase on that kind of need and demand for our service provision, and that's the same across all charities.
18:53
So yeah, I sit on a coalition board with lots of other cancer charity or other charity CEOs, and that trend isn't any different for Teens Unite to anywhere else. I was also going to ask about technology.
19:06
Is there a way technology's playing a role in the operations of Teens Unite? Yeah. And are you guys are also open to new technologies like AI and stuff like that? How are you guys playing in this space? Yeah.
19:20
So we're really lucky to work with some incredible corporate organizations. So we have an organization called Ricoh UK.
19:26
They provide all of our IT and technology for us, so it has no cost for us to run as an organization, alongside all of our kind of IT support, which is incredible.
19:35
We also work with some really fantastic brands, so I touched on a couple of them earlier. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say them out loud, so I'm not gonna say them again, just in case. Okay.
19:42
But we're working with some fantastic brands that are making sure we're educated in the right space, so anything that can be automated is automated. Spoke about how we have a d-digital service delivery.
19:52
That remains a key and critical kind of part of our transition.
19:55
That very much was a kind of byproduct of the pandemic, which meant we weren't prepared to have young people not access our support, so we transitioned that support to 100% digital delivery.
20:05
As we've come out the pandemic, we now very much see that digital will play a place and always play a place in our service provision- Mm...
20:12
because those young people that are too unwell or logistically from, you know, transport perspective can't get to us, deserve the opportunity to be able to access and integrate in our support.
20:21
So we use technology in a very positive way, particularly when teenagers can be at risk of using technology in a particularly negative way.
20:30
A big part of our kind of mission and aspiration for young people is making sure they use it to connect in a positive way and use that to create a community of people they can support and share their thoughts and feelings with, as opposed to, you know, putting them in a vulnerable position.
20:45
Awesome. Brilliant. Thanks very much. I think you said you guys just clocked 18 years, correct? Yes. What is the future like? Oh, it's very exciting.
20:53
So yep, Teens Unite turned 18 years, which is quite a pinnacle kind of teenage birthday really. Mm.
20:58
So we've celebrated well for that with our fantastic supporters, donors, and the young people that we're privileged to help. The next 10 years are very exciting.
21:07
We have an ambition to be able to support 30,000 young people in the next 10 years, something we are very much on track to do.
21:14
The facility here that we plan to renovate and build in the White Subs Lane in Broxbourne will be a pillar of that, so that will help us provide more residential stays to more young people more regularly.
21:26
Equally, that will continue to be supported by our incredible national outreach program.
21:29
So we're working with some of the leading cancer excellence hospitals across the country to make sure we can provide pop-up support and activities on their wards, and again, our digital delivery.
21:39
So those kind of three streams together will very much help ensure Teens Unite hits our ambition for the next 10 years. Well, I think there's a lot of work to be done- Mm-hmm... between now and then.
21:50
I am absolutely a passionate believer that everybody deserves the opportunity in life to be the best version of themselves, and that can mean me, that can mean my staffing team, our volunteers, the young people we help, the families we interact with.
22:05
Talk about lots of people about, you know, what's your superpower, and for me, my superpower is making sure the people around me believe in their full potential, and that's what we're really excited to be able to deliver for teenagers.
22:15
You know, at their lowest point when they're fighting, you know, one of
22:19
the most deadliest diseases in the world, to actually showing them that they can use that as their superpower, and if they apply that correctly with the right tools, techniques, and people around them, they really can be a better version of themselves.
22:31
A few things about how they can get in touch with Teens Unite. Yeah. But for those who just want that quick brief intro or direction, can you please tell us how we can get in touch with Teens Unite? Of course, you can.
22:45
So visit our website, www.teensunite.org. Also look at us on social. So our social media channels are incredible. They share lots of the impact stories we touched on earlier around the young people and their transitions.
22:58
Either if you're a young person or a parent or a teacher or a medical professional and you want to see, you know, k- the kind of journeys that young people have been through to see if you need support, then please do have a look at them.
23:10
And similarly, if you are a donor or an individual who wants to give back, whether that be through your time or a donation, again, please do have a look on our website or on our social channels to really see different ways you can get involved and how you can help us.
23:24
Our website is looked at and updated regularly, so do have a look on there and see h- the ways you can get involved. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.
23:33
I think you've actually provided a lot of insight that people wouldn't have known if it wasn't for you just speaking to us today. So thank you very much for your time.
23:42
Thank you for sharing this information with us, and we are hoping that at some point we will check up on you and check up on how you guys are progressing with the 10-year plan. Please do. So thank you.
23:52
No, thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. Thank you very much. Take care. Bye-bye. [outro jingle] And that brings us to the end of this episode of Voices of Our Towns.
24:03
A huge thank you to Roxanne for joining us and giving valuable insight into the incredible work of Teens Unite fighting cancer.
24:10
We are especially grateful for the behind-the-scenes stories and exclusive she shared with us today.
24:17
If you found this conversation as inspiring as we did, be sure to subscribe to the podcast for more interviews with the voices making a difference in our local communities.
24:28
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in the next episode. [outro music]
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