Birmingham urgently needs a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit to support the specific needs of Teenage Cancer Sufferers. Please help us to make this a reality. Half the money we raise through Maria's Charity will be used towards the Unit

 Design for the outside of Birmingham Childrens Hospital Teenage Cancer Unit.  It you know the hospital, it is on top of the main entrance. 

TCTs top priority is building units in NHS hospitals specifically for teenagers with cancer. As well as superior medical facilities, these units are equipped with day rooms, kitchens, chill-out rooms and gardens where teenagers can relax and feel at home or have friends and family to visit in a comfortable environment. There are computers with internet access, pool tables, playstations, satellite TV, musical instruments, and other things teenagers might like to occupy their time with, or share with friends. Most importantly, the units provide an environment where teenagers can meet others in a similar situation and allow patients to build friendships and mechanisms to cope with their disease.

Units cost upwards of 2 million each to build, and TCT has built 7 units around the UK so far. It is estimated that to reach the goal of giving every teenager with cancer in the UK access to treatment in a specialist unit, that at least 15 more will need to be built.

The first TCT unit was opened in 1990 at the Middlesex Hospital in, London, by the charitys patron Sarah, The Duchess of York.

Soon after the establishment of this first unit, TCT realised that if it was to give every teenager with cancer access to treatment in a unit, it faced the major task of establishing a network of them across the country. An appeal was launched at TCTs First International Conference on Cancer and the Adolescent. Since then, the charity has raised funds through high profile events, company sponsorship, through the backing of stars in the entertainment and sports fields and through dedicated fundraising by teenagers, their families, friends and many other supporters, to realise their goal.

What is special about a TCT unit?

Its not just another ward in an NHS hospital. It is the teenagers own domain. It has all the specialised equipment they need for their treatment, but so much more. Everywhere is designed and laid out with teenagers in mind. There are activity rooms where they can use computers with internet access, watch satellite television, use PlayStations, play musical instruments, watch DVDs, listen to music or just relax; there is a kitchen and dining facilities where they can socialise; places to sit with family and friends; even a garden area.

At TCTs unit in University College Hospital, London, each room has a large flat-screen TV beside each bed. Not only does this television mean teenagers can watch what they want around the clock without being charged, but it also gives them internet access and is connected up to a web cam which ensures they can stay in touch with friends and family at home and even patients on other TCT units. The digital lighting panels give patients the ability to change the colour of their room, to reflect their mood. 

TCT funds everything in the units, from guitars, PlayStations, computers and beds to infusion pumps for chemotherapy. Increasingly, TCT is funding specialist staff, such as lead nurses and activity co-ordinators, as well.

The aim of the unit is to provide a haven where the teenagers can draw strength from each other, welcome their family and friends to their private space and yet still benefit from the unstinting and reassuring support of experienced and dedicated health professionals.

Some thoughts from teenagers on what is so special about a TCT unit:

"Its a good place to be if youre having a bad time".

"When I was first diagnosed with leukaemia I was lucky enough to experience one of the Teenage Cancer Trust units. I remember first walking onto the ward and seeing people my own age, all with smiles on their faces, with music playing and fights over what telly channel to watch. I thought I must have the wrong place. I was looking for a cancer unit full of sick people moping around this was more like a youth club. For me, apart from the odd drip stand and the occasional moan of not another injection!! this is how I experienced the TCT unit. I first thought I was going to a place where every one was sick, but because of the lively atmosphere, we didnt have time to feel sick, we were too busy enjoying ourselves and rather than a place where every one was sick, it felt like a place to get better".

"If the units did not exist, I sometimes question whether I would be here today celebrating my third year of remission, as I believe my attitude played a big part in my recovery. I would not have been so optimistic and positive if I had been surrounded by young children or very old, terminally ill cancer patients, who would not be able to appreciate the opportunities that I was missing during such an important time of my life, such as pubbing, clubbing, education, socialising etc".