Charities

The Specialized Project acts as a fundraising portal for many charitable causes and projects. Since 2011 our core benefactor has been The Teenage Cancer Trust but we support a range of initiatives that support people in the areas of terminal illness and mental health


Teenage Cancer Trust

Our vision is a future where young people’s lives don’t stop because they have cancer. We make sure they’re treated as young people first, cancer patients second.

Around six young people aged between 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every day in the UK. They need expert treatment and support from the moment they hear the word ‘cancer.’ We’re the only charity dedicated to making this happen. We bring young people together so they can be treated together, by teenage cancer experts, in the best place for them. We educate young people about cancer and work with health professionals to develop their knowledge so we can improve the speed and quality of diagnosis. And by funding research and working with our partners in the NHS, government and organisations both nationally and internationally, we strive to improve survival rates.

We lead the world in the care of young people with cancer. Together with these young people, their families and the passion of our supporters, we’re challenging the NHS and transforming lives.

Over 21 years Teenage Cancer Trust has learnt a lot about what it’s like to be a young person with cancer – their unique emotional, physical and practical needs. Because Teenage Cancer Trust understands, they can provide better care, better services and hopefully a more positive outcome for young people. There’s never a good time to get cancer, but for a teenager the timing seems particularly cruel. Young people can get some of the most rare and aggressive forms of cancer. Their rapidly changing bodies can work against them, enabling the cancer to grow faster. The emotional upheaval of adolescence can make a cancer diagnosis even harder to cope with.

Without the work of Teenage Cancer Trust, young people with cancer would be treated alongside children or elderly patients at the end of their lives. Being away from your normal life, friends and environment at such a vulnerable time is the last thing they need.

Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the quality of life and chances of survival for the six young people aged between 13 and 24 diagnosed with cancer every day. We know that what they do need is to be treated together, by teenage cancer experts, in an environment tailored for them. So we develop specialist units within NHS hospitals that do just this. We want every young person with cancer to have access to this specialist support, no matter where they live. We’re dedicated to making it happen, but we need your support to do it.

A brief report from the Specialized/Teenage Cancer Trust visit to the Newcastle TCT unit ‘Newcastle’, Today was our Specialized visit to the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.We met up with Jane and Angie from the Teenage Cancer Trust music dept in London and made our way to Ward 34 where we were greeted by head nurse of the TCT unit Suzanne. On entering the ward we noticed it was in two parts.The fantasticly coloured half of the ward, full of exotic coloured decals depicting music, recreation and more was in stark contrast to the bottom half of the ward corridor where it suddenly went back to battleship grey in colour.This was the adult cancer ward area and of course,the multi coloured chilled out area we were stood in was the TCT unit area.

We sat and chatted with Suzanne in the Recreation area situated by the reception. Here a pool table, TV, IT area was for the young people undergoing treatment,a place to mix and congregate, share stories and help each other with positive vibes, it was decorated with music and other recreational decals, all perfectly suited to young people and just sat there, it didn’t feel like a place of medicine or treatment, just chilled and relaxing. Over 90 young people are in and out of the ward at the moment, with bone cancer being the majority of cancers treated but of course there other types ranging from melanoma, lymphoma, brain tumor, to leukemia and more. Suzanne explained that the young people in their care had pretty much a relaxed free run of the ward, being able to cook their own food and make their own drinks in the next place where we were shown which was a kitchen/diner/rec. area. This was extremely cool. Tall orange Perspex chairs around a nice breakfast bar, full kitchen area of cooker, microwaves, espresso machines, everything a teenager would want! In the same room were dayglo couches with matching cushion to slob about on and a huge sky HD TV on the wall, everything very state of the art,all designed to make life comfortable and easy for the kids undergoing treatment,throw into the mix a free standing digital jukebox,and a wonderful playstation section with comfy couch, large screen TV- it was truly a sight to behold and its so easy to see how a place like this can help maintain some normality in a young persons life and help deflect from the tough time they are having.


CanTeen Australia

SpecialOzd events in Australia are supporting CanTeen. CanTeen’s mission is to support, develop and empower young people living with cancer.
We get it. Just when life should be full of possibilities, cancer crashes into a young person’s world and shatters everything. Cancer pushes them back into the nest, makes them grow up too fast and weighs them down with worries they’re not supposed to have yet.

CanTeen is the game-changer. We help young people cope with cancer in their family. Through CanTeen, they learn to explore and deal with their feelings about cancer, connect with other young people in the same boat and if they’ve been diagnosed themselves, we also provide specialist, youth-specific treatment teams.

By feeling understood and supported, young people develop resilience and can rebuild the foundations that crumbled beneath them when cancer turned their life upside down. That’s how CanTeen is the difference.

CanTeen works by having young people at the centre of everything we do. We were set up by a group of young cancer patients in 1985 and still have young people affected by cancer guiding the organisation at every level. Combined with our leading-edge research into the emotional and social impacts of cancer, it ensures that we truly understand how cancer is different in a young person’s world.

For more information or to get support email us at support@canteen.org.au or call 1800 835 932. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.


We've also worked with

TONIC Music for Mental Health

Tonic was founded in 2012 as a direct response to the lack of creative support for people experiencing mental health difficulties. It was founded upon the belief that participation in music and the arts can aid you in your recovery from mental illness.
support them on their journeys of recovery.

Our Tonic Rider programme promotes good mental health in the music industry. Tonic Rider provides free training and support to music industry professionals, both remotely and at venues.

As the Tonic community keeps growing, we will continue providing creative mental health support to promote Recovery Through Music, while promoting good mental health in the music industry through the Tonic Rider programme.

Pivotal Homes Group

Pivotal Homes develop and deliver high quality homes for vulnerable people. Our most recent developments are in Cornwall, Gloucester and Bournemouth.

Our homes team develop high quality properties providing homes to vulnerable people. They are always actively seeking opportunities to acquire, or work with, existing businesses in the care and supported-housing sectors who would like to work with them to support the Pivotal vision of providing places that vulnerable people can call “home”.

Youth Music

We believe that every young person should have the chance to change their life through music.

Yet our research shows that many can’t because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through.

Our insights, influence and investment in grassroots organisations and to young people themselves means that more 0–25-year-olds can make, learn and earn in music.

Youth Music is a national charity funded thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England, players of People’s Postcode Lottery and support from partners, fundraisers and donors.