FAQs for families

• To be eligible for Candlelighters’ in-hospital support, your child must be aged 0-19, and an inpatient under the care of the Paediatric Haematology and Oncology department at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

• To be eligible for Candlelighters’ lifetime support, your child must be aged 0-19, have been diagnosed with cancer (or a neoplastic condition requiring chemotherapy or radiotherapy), with Leeds Children’s Hospital as their principal treatment centre.

If you haven’t already, you will likely meet one of our Family Support Workers at Leeds Children’s Hospital. They will go through a new patient form with you and talk about the support that’s available. You can speak to a Family Support Worker at any time and they will help you get the support you need – just look for the people in pink.

Yes. Particularly if your child receives treatment at home or as an outpatient, we appreciate you may not see our Family Support Workers as often. If you would like to talk about the support that’s available to you, you can speak to our Family Support Team by calling 0113 887 8333 or emailing [email protected].

Yes. Thanks to fundraising and donations from our amazing supporters, we can provide all our services to families free of charge.

• For families receiving in-hospital support, our support is there for the duration of your inpatient stay and any subsequent stays.
• For families receiving lifetime support, our support is there for as long as you need it. We know that living through and beyond childhood cancer is hard and not always straightforward. You can come back to us for support at any time, even years after treatment or bereavement.

Yes. We recognise that childhood cancer impacts the whole family, including siblings. We run support groups specifically for siblings, where our team will support them and they can meet other siblings touched by childhood cancer. Siblings can also access our children's talking therapy service with a trained therapist to talk through any feelings or worries they may have.

Yes. We have a Community Support Team that can deliver support closer to your home anywhere in Yorkshire. You can call us on 0113 887 8333 or email [email protected] to find out more.