About us

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a national sailing and outdoor adventure charity that inspires young people aged 8-24 to believe in a brighter future living through and beyond cancer.

For many young people simply picking up where they left off before their diagnosis just isn’t possible. So, when treatment ends the Trust’s work begins.

Why is the Trust needed?
Cancer treatment can be very lonely with long periods of isolation away from friends, family, and school. The pandemic has amplified the loneliness, isolation and anxiety experienced by these young people to unimaginable levels.

In addition, the pandemic has amplified the loneliness, isolation and anxiety experienced by young people living through and beyond cancer to unimaginable levels.

How the Trust improves the mental wellbeing of young people
Through sailing and outdoor adventure, young people have fun, gain a new sense of purpose and self-worth, rediscover independence, and feel optimism for the future.

They realise what they are capable of again - physically, mentally, and socially - and stop feeling like ‘the only one’. They start to re-establish their place in the world and can believe in a brighter future.

Support over time 
Once a young person has sailed with the Trust for the first time, they can stay involved, either by returning for further annual trips or, if they are aged 18+, by becoming a volunteer to support other young people like them.

These ‘Graduate Volunteers’ symbolise a brighter future ahead and inspire those more recently off treatment - it is incredibly powerful and aspirational for a young person to meet an adult who had ca ncer when they were younger too.