Local charity, Children with Cancer Fund, is celebrating after being awarded over £13,000 in National Lottery funding to support its work with children and families impacted by childhood cancer. The charity, based in Willingdon, will use the money to fund wages for their Charity Administrator, who is the main point of contact within the charity.

Children with Cancer Fund has been working in the local community since 1998 and is staffed by a small office team with the support of volunteers. It was founded by four people, each with a passion to enable children with cancer, and their families, to have the same quality of life anyone would hope to have.

The charity now supports over 150 families across East Sussex, Brighton and Hove. They do this by granting wishes, providing respite holidays and hosting family events to ensure that children and families know they are not facing their fight alone. They also provide crucial practical assistance and emotional support whenever it is needed.

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will see Children with Cancer Fund able to continue its vital support.

Chris Downton, Co-Founder of Children with Cancer Fund, says: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way, and that thanks to National Lottery players we will be able continue providing essential support to children and families affected by cancer. Funding wages means our dedicated team can focus on delivering wishes, once-in-a-lifetime moments and a safe place for families to turn when they need it the most.”

The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. 

As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year (2023/24) The National Lottery Community Fund awarded over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality. 

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

To find out more about the work of Children with Cancer Fund, visit www.childrenwithcancerfund.org.uk