#RunningOnEmpty – a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund

Every year, over 4,000 children and young people (0–24) are diagnosed with cancer in the UK. Because their treatment is delivered at one of just 19 specialist centres, families must often travel long distances to treatment at an average cost of £250 a month over many months or even years. Our research shows more than 70% struggle with these costs, and one in 10 miss or delay treatment as a result.

Young Lives vs Cancer has campaigned for over a decade to remove this barrier, developing and leading our call for a £10 million Travel Fund, based on our own robust policy research and modelling, and the lived experience of the children, young people and families we support.

In 2026, the UK Government committed to introducing this £10 million Travel Fund as part of the National Cancer Plan for England. The Fund will support all young cancer patients and their families, regardless of income, ensuring they can access treatment without financial strain of paying for travel.

Throughout 2025–2026 we ensured our policy initiative was actively shaping government decision-making while the National Cancer Plan was being developed, building on our campaign, which re-launched in 2023. We secured a seat on the charity subgroup of the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce, influencing discussions with ministers and civil servants in real time and maintained consistent political pressure through targeted parliamentary engagement. Alongside this, we amplified lived experience through national media and mobilised our supporters to back our call.