The following 30 days will see many raise awareness of Childhood Cancer

Today marks the start of a very important month in The Little Princess Trust's calendar.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM) and the next 30 days will see many charities and organisations raise awareness about how cancer still affects the lives of many young people.

The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

And we also fund research aiming to find kinder and more effective treatments for all childhood cancers.

So this month is understandably a very important one for all of us at The Little Princess Trust – and the young people we support.

Throughout September we will be writing stories on our website about the science we are funding and the advances that have been made thanks to our fabulous supporters.

We will also be using our social media pages to mention some of the amazing wig recipients who constantly amaze and inspire us.

To start the month off, we spoke to Teiva Collins. The 13-year-old received a wig from us in 2019 shortly after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Teiva is now one of our ambassadors and has helped to promote our work by being interviewed on television, radio and by newspaper journalists.

We sat down with Teiva and asked her all about her involvement with The Little Princess Trust and her thoughts on Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to start off our series of blogs for this important month.

Hello Teiva! Can you tell us how you became involved with The Little Princess Trust?

When I first got diagnosed, I didn’t actually know about The Little Princess Trust. Me and my mum went to a salon thinking that we would have to pay for a wig and then the salon said that they could give me a free wig. This was the best day ever. I shaved my head and got a beautiful blonde wig that was exactly like my hair. Ever since that day I have supported and done everything I can for LPT.  

Secondly, can you tell us why Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is important to you?

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is very important to make people aware of what cancer patients have to go through. It is not just losing your hair and being sick, it is also taking so many drugs and feeling super weak, having no energy, going to hospital several times a week, having several needles a week. And there are many more reasons but those are some of the main aspects. I feel that people should know the truth and how lucky some are to not have to go through the pain that cancer people go through. 

And, finally, is there anything about your experience of cancer that you think people who have not suffered with the illness should know?

What I think people should know is that it is all about your mindset. Don’t think you’re not going to survive, or you can’t do it. Think 'I will do this' and 'I will survive'. Your hair will fall out yes, but it will grow back and LPT can give you a free wig.