CLIC Sargent one of the many charities Safestore Supports

For this edition of Behind the Blue Walls we interviewed a wonderful charity who store with us in Bristol called CLIC Sargent.  They provide incredible support to children and young people living with cancer.  Speaking to Sam at CLIC Sargent HQ we discovered more about the work they do and how they provide support to families nationwide.
 

Where did it all begin?

CLIC Sargent was formed in 2005 after a successful merger between CLIC and Sargent Cancer Care for Children.

•    Sargent Cancer Care for Children - founded in 1968 by Sylvia Darley OBE as a lasting memory to the late Sir Malcolm Sargent.

•    CLIC (Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood) - founded in 1976 in the south west by Bob Woodward following the diagnosis of his young son Robert with cancer two years before. Sadly, Robert died in 1977 aged 11 years, and Bob went on to dedicate his life to charity work.

Every day in the UK, 10 children and young people are given shocking news that will change their lives forever. They are told they have cancer. Treatment normally starts immediately, often happens many miles from home and can last for up to three years. Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening experience and the emotional, practical and financial implications of treatment are intensely challenging for the whole family.
 

Support provided by CLIC Sargent

CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. They provide emotional, practical, financial and clinical support to help those diagnosed cope with cancer and get the most out of life. They are there from diagnosis onwards and aim to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement.

CLIC Sargent care initiatives include…

•    Helping children and young people with cancer spend less time in hospital and more time safely at home. CLIC Sargent nurses help to coordinate patients clinical care to reduce the time or number of visits they have to make to hospital. Working with the NHS community nursing teams and local hospitals ensures that they can deliver as many treatments from home as possible. This means less time travelling to and from hospital, less time spent away from school and friends and, crucially, more time spent with their families.

•    Offering families the chance to stay together during treatment by providing free accommodation in one of their nine ‘Homes from Home’, close to specialist hospitals where their child is being treated.

•    Helping children and young people maintain a normal life outside of their treatment by providing valuable information, giving them support, and helping them to get back to school, college or work.

•    Helping children, young people and families to understand cancer, its treatments and the personal, practical and financial impact it has through their vital information service.

•    Helping families and young people to meet the extra costs, such as travel and childcare, which escalate during cancer treatment by providing vital grants right from the start.

Safestore support

Safestore have been supporting CLIC Sargent since April 2009 and have donated vital storage space in order to save funds that are crucial to their initiatives.

CLIC Sargent Stock and Logistics Manager Slawomir Dzialach said: “We are hugely grateful to Safestore for their generous donation of storage space for our warehouse team to use. Having this support from Safestore over the past seven years has been hugely valuable to the CLIC Sargent team and we would like to say a big thank you to all those involved.”
 

How can people find out more about CLIC Sargent?

To find out more about CLIC Sargent you can visit their website, Facebook page, and Twitter.