Find out more about Brain Tumour Awareness Month

March is Brain Tumour Awareness Month, a UK-wide initiative designed to raise awareness of all types and grades of brain tumours, a shocking diagnosis which 16,000 people a year receive in the UK alone.

Did you know?

• Approximately 45 people each day in the UK face a brain tumour diagnosis;
• Over 100,000 people in the UK are living with a brain tumour;
• There are more than 120 different types of brain tumour making them notoriously difficult to diagnose;
• The cause of brain tumours is not known, they can affect everyone regardless of age, sex, lifestyle or general health;
• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other type of cancer;
• The five year survival rate for people with brain tumours is just 12%, compared to 40% for leukaemia and 70% for prostate and breast cancer;
• Incidences of, and death from, brain tumours are increasing.

The need for funding for research and to support people with brain tumours, along with their loved ones is more important than ever. This Brain Tumour Awareness Month we wanted to shine a spotlight on Brain Tumour Support, and the amazing work that they do.

Tina Mitchell-Skinner is the charity’s Founder and CEO and started the charity as a result of her family’s devastating experience of a brain tumour diagnosis. The story of Tina and her family is heart rending but resulted in the pioneering support work which HammerOut delivered for ten years, before moving forward under the new identity of Brain Tumour Support.

How Brain Tumour Support helps people living with brain tumours and their families

In the UK, 45 people a day are diagnosed with a brain tumour. Brain Tumour Support offers unique help not available from the NHS or other charities and supports people with any type or grade of brain tumour, primary or secondary, from glioblastomas to meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas.

The impact of a brain tumour diagnosis on the lives of the person diagnosed and everyone around them is unmeasurable and the right support is so important in order to make things easier to navigate. Brain Tumour Support offer a wealth of information, online members forums, a support line, support sessions and counselling.

If you, your family or friends have been affected by a brain tumour diagnosis, get in touch with Brain Tumour Support today to find out more about the personalised support they can offer you and your family. The Brain Tumour Support team is ready and waiting to provide free support at any time after a diagnosis – because support matters!

Having free support online and by phone from Brain Tumour Support’s trained Support Professionals, along with peer support from other people living with a brain tumour diagnosis makes an enormous difference to people diagnosed and their families.

As Suzanne said, “I had so many questions and no-one to talk to about them." She finds the Brain Tumour Support Members’ Forum on Facebook invaluable, “It’s been great being able to talk to people about practical things and about the realities of surgery.”

Read Suzanne’s story here.

Whilst the impact of the global pandemic has been hugely detrimental to the charity sector in numerous ways, the move to more online support has meant that Brain Tumour Support has been able to reach even more people across the country.

Bridget Dowty from Brain Tumour Support reflects on this:

“The Covid-19 pandemic was the most challenging period in the history of the charity and it is thanks to the loyalty, commitment and generosity of our amazing supporters, old and new, that Brain Tumour Support managed to survive. The charity is now in the process of rebuilding and one of the most positive outcomes is that the necessity to suspend face-to-face local support groups and transfer services online has widened the reach of our support to stretch right across the UK. These new ways of working mean that we can now offer help and a vital connection to even more people who really need our support. We are determined that, whilst this virtual support model expands our operation and geographical reach, we will still retain our 'local' and very personalised approach to the support we offer and which is valued so highly.”

Thankfully Brain Tumour Support have been able to survive the pandemic and they are now focusing on re-building and thriving.

Brain Tumour Support are currently campaigning for funding for additional support workers in their ‘Sponsor a Support Professional’ campaign. This is an initiative to allow the charity to increase the vital support it provides. To do this the charity needs to raise £20,000 for each additional Support Professional.

Find out more here.

Help us spread awareness of Brain Tumour Support’s services for people living with brain tumours and their families

Brain Tumour Awareness Month is a great way to spread the word about Brain Tumour Support and to let more of the 100,000+ adults and children living with brain tumours access their services.

Your input is important whether it’s as simple as:

• ‘liking’ Brain Tumour Support’s Facebook page 
• sharing information about Brain Tumour Awareness Month
• backing the Sponsor a Support Professional campaign with a ‘Cake and a Cuppa’ event.