Young Portsmouth cancer survivors invited on sailing adventures with Dame Ellen MacArthur’s charity

Young people like paramedic for the South Western Ambulance service, Chris Dunkin who was 23 when he was diagnosed with Malignant melanoma a type of skin cancer on his arm which metastasized to his lymphatic system and was removed by surgery. Now 26 years old living in Portsmouth, he spent five days last month on a yacht with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust sailing from Largs, Scotland.

Chris said: “I’ve moved around various different places since having a diagnosis. I’ve visited three different hospitals, so it hasn’t been the same as everyone else’s journey.

“The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust offers you a nice, relaxing environment where you can further establish connections and detach yourself from the day-to-day bits and pieces, which normally cause anxiety and other problems.

“It further explores that there are other options out there and I thoroughly enjoy looking forward to these trips because it’s a good chance to get out, meet new people and clear my head.”

Now, other young people from Portsmouth who have had cancer are being invited to join the charity this summer for their own free transformational experience.

Even after they are given the all-clear, cancer can impact young people’s lives long into the future. Their mental wellbeing in particular takes a massive hit.

Once their treatment has finished, they are often left with fewer friends and struggle with relationships, their education suffers, they miss out on work experience, and they develop body image issues. Late effects of being diagnosed young include infertility, extreme fatigue, osteoporosis, thyroid problems, and hearing or vision loss.

Adjusting to this ‘new normal’ can be extremely difficult, which is why when treatment ends, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s work begins.

Reflecting on his experience with the charity, he added: “The fact that I get really immersed within the sailing and I really enjoy it, is a positive for me. I get stuck in and lose track of all of what’s gone on.

“The sense of teamwork and camaraderie, the fact we’ve all muddled in together to make the yacht get from A to B. That family feeling, where you feel comfortable and safe in the environment, that’s something I’ll take forward.”

Young people aged 8-24 from Portsmouth can sign up online for some much-needed support with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust this summer.

Through the charity’s sailing and outdoor adventures, young people gain a new sense of purpose and self-worth, rediscover their independence, and feel optimistic about what comes next in life. They realise what they are capable of, stop feeling like ‘the only one’, and their mental wellbeing improves.

They start to re-establish their purpose and place in the world and believe in a brighter future.

Founder and Patron of the charity, Dame Ellen MacArthur, said: “We see it time and time again. Young people arrive anxious and isolated. But they leave feeling part of something, accepted, independent, and optimistic.

“We are only able to support as many young people as we do thanks to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Because of them, thousands of young lives have been transformed after cancer through life-changing sailing and outdoor activity adventures.

“This summer we will welcome hundreds of young people from right across the UK who need post-treatment support. We will be there for them and they will believe in a brighter future.”

If you or someone you know from Portsmouth could benefit from the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s support, visit ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org or email [email protected].