EVER since she can remember, Vicky Walsh has been battling cancer.

First diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of six, she has relapsed several times and finished her most recent course of treatment six months ago.

But things are beginning to change for Vicky.

Now aged 26, she has recently had to leave behind the teenager and young adult services with which she was familiar and join the adult services.

“I realised almost immediately that the support I’d received from my liaison nurse and social groups – and simply the security of knowing that when I was ill the people who were looking after me were familiar faces, like old friends – was no longer there,” she said.

“Some of the people who looked after me I had known and trusted since I was first diagnosed at the age of six and they had been there throughout my subsequent three relapses at ages 10, 17 and 22.

“I felt very lost and alone. Once I got to 25 no one seemed to want to know. I was just another file to be got through.”

As a regular visitor to the Youth Cancer Trust’s (YCT) Tracy Ann House in Westbourne, Vicky, a legal assistant from Wakefield, knows she is not the only person of her age to experience this problem.

The issue is just one to be addressed by the charity at a national conference taking place tomorrow.

YCT is hosting this year’s annual National Conference of Childhood Cancer Charities and Support Groups at the Riviera Hotel in Alum Chine.

Speakers and guests from all over the country will be attending the event to hear, among other topics, what provision currently exists and what more needs to be done.

Georgina Hillman, from YCT, said: “The conference is important as it brings together many cancer charities, health professionals, patients and parent support groups from all over the UK and abroad.

“It is an opportunity to share best practice and to inform one another of the work being done across the country in areas such as research, support and awareness.

“It will be interesting to hear Mark Simmonds, the shadow minister for health, speak about the Future of Cancer Services under a Conservative government as there are many issues faced by the representatives attending the conference, which I’m sure they will want to address – issues such as funding, the right to informed treatment, post cancer support services, and financial support for families.”

YCT itself will be proclaiming the positive benefits of recreational holidays for teenagers and young adults with cancer.

The charity has undertaken a study for the last two years to help understand the need for services such as YCT in helping improve confidence and the quality of life in young cancer patients.

Also speaking will be 30-year-old cancer patient Thomas Green, another regular at Tracy Ann House.

He said: “I feel it is important to be able to share the negative experience of having had cancer and in return be able to do something positive on a personal level and to share my experience with other people.

“I will be talking about living with the effects of having had cancer and how it affects me on a day-to-day basis.”

More than 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, which is being sponsored by the area’s Rotary clubs, and anyone with any interest in cancer, from nurses, patients, cancer charities or survivors, is welcome.

Call Georgina Hillman for more information or to book a place on 01202 763591 or email admin@yct.org.uk.