I am currently a finalist in the UK's National Miss beauty pageant which proudly supports The Christie Cancer Charity. As UK's National Miss Leicester 2021-2022, I am absolutely thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to fundraise for this brilliant charity. I will be completing a 14,000ft skydive on the 13th of June!

The Christie charity raises money for a range of projects and initiatives focusing on four main areas: research, care and treatment, education and extra patient services. These services are above and beyond what the NHS provide, enabling The Christie to give their patients the best care and treatment possible. It is important to know that The Christie serve patients from all over the UK.

Your donations will go towards the development of a new psychological support service for teenage and young adult patients to better support these patients and their carers throughout their entire journey from diagnosis, during active cancer therapy and into follow-up or bereavement.

Young people with cancer have specific emotional needs due to their stage of physical and emotional development. Coupled with a cancer diagnosis, this presents a unique set of challenges. Young people interpret and manage a diagnosis and the treatment of cancer differently. Experiencing cancer during puberty can affect the physical transformations that are taking place, the development of a young person’s identity, sense of self and body image. Cancer disrupts engagement in work or education and interaction with family and friends at a crucial time in their development.

The Christie support young people throughout every aspect of this journey, helping them to thrive whilst living with their cancer diagnosis. Psychology support is currently provided by TYA specialist nursing staff and occupational therapy staff, however a more robust and extended service will allow them to develop future pioneering research and recruit more TYA patients onto brain tumour clinical trials in particular.

Your donations really do have an impact at The Christie. Without the support of their fantastic fundraisers, they would not be able to give their patients and their families the level of care and support that they do. From providing continuous funding for the Cancer Information Centre and Wig Service, helping patients and their families cope with the effects of treatment, to raising money for new developments such as the recently opened Teenage and Young Adult unit, your donations are having a positive impact every single day.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.