By Hannah Martin | Activity Stay Success Report
Teens Unite's Activity Stay 2015 proved a huge success and this is thanks to all of the amazing supporters who contributed to the project. It is because of your help that we were able to make a life-changing difference to 25 of the young people with cancer Teens Unite supports.
The young people travelled from far and wide to attend the week, with some travelling to London from Cornwall and Liverpool, but they didn't leave disappointed!
It was an action-packed week with activities including Go Ape, a sports workshop with Olympic athlete Jade Johnson, an Apprentice Challenge day and a beauty workshop- just to name a few of the things we got up to.
So many life-long friendships were made during the Activity Stay and it was overwhelming to see how much the young people were encouraging each other and boosting one anothers confidence and self-esteem.
It was such a success that we have already started to put the plans in place to run the project once again next year. Thank you to all of you that made it happen.
Here's what one of the young people, Melissa had to say:
“It's been a week since I left for London to spend nearly a week with some of the most inspiring people you could meet at the Teens Unite Activity Stay and it's changed me and my outlook in a way I could never imagine.
I left on the train not knowing what to expect or who I'd meet or how I'd cope with taking part in crazy activities such as a sports day, Go Ape and sports activities with Olympic athlete Jade Johnson and honestly I was so close to dropping out, there's no way my body could dope with an activity week away so soon after chemo was there?
Now that I'm back I'm gutted that it didn't go on for longer, it was the best week of the year and actually quite life changing, I've made friends for life, pushed myself more than ever before and managed to see that having cancer was the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has made me more determined than ever to achieve my goals and become a better person and that I'll be ok. My whole mentality and outlook has changed in five short days.
Cancer can be the loneliest road you ever have to take, no one else understands what you're going through, you feel like you must be the only 21 year old in the world to battle cancer. But I'm not alone, Teens Unite introduced me to lots of new people who are a similar age and battled cancer.
I've been very lucky to be helped by lots of different charities but Teens Unite is so different and so much better than any other, to them I'm not just a cancer patient, I'm a young person who can achieve so much more than I can imagine, they've inspired me to not only achieve my goals but make new ones because I know I can achieve anything, they made me feel like the strongest person in the world, they're mission statement is "to help young people build on their self esteem, self confidence and to reduce the feeling of isolation, realising that others are facing similar challenges". I've gained so much from the Teens Unite Activity Stay. I'm a lot more confident, driven, determined and so proud of myself and all the other teens. I've made friends who are like family and already can't wait for the next event. It's such a special charity and I never thought I could ever be normal again, now I know I'm not normal my cancer doesn't define who I am it shapes who I'm going to be in the best way. I'm a better person because of my diagnosis and I'm going to be ok in the future and Teens Unite have helped me see that.”
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