About Candlelighters

Candlelighters is a Yorkshire based charity dedicated to helping support children with cancer or serious blood disorders and their families, whilst at the same time promoting research into childhood cancer. Each year some 150 children and teenagers in Yorkshire are referred to the Specialist Unit at St. James's University Hospital in Leeds. The news that a child has cancer is devastating and distressing to the child and their family. From the time of diagnosis families have to readjust and learn to cope with a life of many uncertainties and disruptions. Candlelighter's aim is to find a cure for childhood cancer. For this to happen, money is needed for research. Whilst enormous progress has been made since the charity was formed in 1971, it will be years before cures are found for all forms of cancer and leukaemia. Research funded by Candlelighters at St. James's Hospital in Leeds contributes to national and international knowledge and understanding of how cancer develops and behaves. The more research is done, the faster the cures and possibly the causes, will be found. In the meantime, Candlelighters continue to raise much needed funds to improve the facilities for children being treated at the Unit in Leeds; to purchase the latest medical equipment for the ward, outpatients clinic and bone marrow transplant unit; toys, books, games and videos which make the children's time in hospital more pleasant; to encourage support groups for parents, siblings and teenagers and to provide holiday breaks away from the stresses of hospital routine in their holiday homes on the East Coast. Candlelighters may be contacted at: Candlelighter's Office Children's Day Hospital St.James's University Hospital Beckett Street, Leeds LS9 7TF Tel: 0113 247 0372 Fax: 0 1 13 247 0248