Laura Crane Trust

Chatworld

’Almost without exception, teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer protect those closest to them from their deepest fears and concerns, yet like Laura herself, many refer to a sense of 'loneliness' or 'isolation' because they don’t know any other young people with cancer; they feel as if they're‘the only one.’

Most UK hospitals lack the facilities to treat cancer in young people, which means that many patients have to be treated at some considerable distance from home and all that is comfortable and familiar. In those that do, only a few, as yet, have specific units designed for teenagers. Most of these young people will be admitted to adult or children’s wards - each equally inappropriate - and will have no access to other young people, undergoing similar experiences, with whom they can share their innermost feelings.

To address this situation, the Laura Crane Trust has in the pipeline a fantastic new, 'virtual world' facility. will be a chat-room-style creation with a massive difference!

Young patients will be able to log on to this secure facility at any time of day or night to contact others going through similar experiences and benefit from mutual support. Teenage cancer patients at St. James’s Hospital, Leeds and at Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield have taken part in the early planning stages to help us design the best possible visual communication channel for them. Each of them creates an ‘avatar’ – a figure to represent them on screen. Through their avatar they can then enter a variety of settings in a virtual world…a coffee bar, a teenager’s bedroom, a shopping mall, a busy street and even a fantasy island where they can explore, sunbathe, water-ski, surf and much more! Conversations appear in speech bubbles. Our patron, Catherine Tate, is willing to have her own avatar and to drop in now and again, as is comedienne Jo Brand. Other celebrities will be approached and we may even host ‘pop concerts’ and other major ‘events’!

Costs will exceed £150,000 to bring this brilliant facility into being but it will be a wonderful motivational tool, bringing a whole new kind of emotional support for our young people. As this is the very first of its kind, there will clearly be a great deal of prestige for anyone who helps to get this project launched!. To see more examples of the environments and for more information about the project, please contact Fundraising Manager, Pam Thornes at pam@lauracranetrust.org or on 01484 510113.