“Cansa recognises that when a child, adolescent or young adult (AYA) is diagnosed with cancer, the impact extends throughout the family and into the community,” says Anina Meiring, Cansa service manager: Childhood Cancer. “It can determine where a family stays during treatment, whether the young person can continue learning, how parents cope and whether those around them know how to help.
“Our role is to surround the young person and their family with practical support, human connection and dignity from diagnosis through treatment.”
Meiring manages Cansa’s Tough Living with Cancer (TLC) Programme, which provides a family-centred, community-supported response to cancer among children and AYAs. TLC combines practical assistance, age-appropriate support spaces, nutritional and emotional support, and accommodation close to treatment centres.
“This helps young patients and their families to cope with the demands of diagnosis and treatment,” says Meiring. “It also draws hospitals, schools, volunteers, donors and community organisations into a broader circle of support around each family. From treatment devices and family accommodation to adolescent-friendly rooms, palliative care and community education, Cansa TLC helps children and young people face cancer without their families having to face it alone.”
Cansa TLC supports young patients through practical interventions designed to ease treatment, protect dignity and strengthen emotional wellbeing. During the financial year ending 31 March 2026, this included providing implanted chemotherapy ports, catheters, needles, dressings and mobility aids; supporting 166 adolescents and young adults; providing specialised nutrition and food support; and assisting 38 children who required palliative or end-of-life care.
“These practical forms of support protect dignity and help families to keep going,” says Meiring. “An implanted chemotherapy port can reduce repeated needle trauma; a room close to the ward can keep a parent near a child; and a meal can help a family through a stressful day.”
Cancer treatment often takes families far from home and creates unexpected financial, emotional and practical pressures. Cansa TLC helps ease these demands by providing accommodation, meals, food parcels, toiletries and other essentials, as well as counselling and support for parents, caregivers and siblings.
Cansa TLC Nicus Lodge in Pretoria, situated on the grounds of Tshwane District Hospital near Steve Biko Academic Hospital, provides free accommodation for parents and guardians while their children receive treatment. Where possible, siblings are also accommodated, helping families remain together during extended periods away from home.
Cansa TLC Tygerberg Lodge, situated on the grounds of Tygerberg Hospital in Parow, Cape Town, also provides accommodation and support for families, while Cansa TLC Durban Lodge offers family accommodation and access to practical facilities such as a kitchen, lounge and laundry.
Dedicated AYA spaces recognise that teenagers and young adults have needs that differ from those of younger children. These spaces provide greater privacy, opportunities to continue studying and, where possible, accommodation for a parent or caregiver. Cansa has established AYA facilities at the TLC Tygerberg Lodge and, more recently, at its Olea Katleho Care Home in Bloemfontein.
Cansa TLC works alongside healthcare teams to support paediatric oncology wards, help families navigate treatment and extend palliative care beyond the hospital environment.
During the reporting period, the programme conducted 1,852 ward-round events and supported 468 beneficiaries. It also held 25 health-promotion events that benefited 1,428 people.
Community education plays an important role in helping families and educators recognise possible warning signs of childhood cancer. Cansa’s First Line of Defence (FLOD) initiative trained 10 volunteers, while a pilot at Kabega Primary School in Gqeberha reached 250 learners and 21 educators. A further 18 people received bereavement-support training, strengthening communities’ ability to support families experiencing loss.
“When communities understand the warning signs and know how to respond, they become part of the support system,” says Meiring. “Care does not begin and end at the hospital door. It depends on what happens at home, at school and in the places where families live.”
Cansa TLC is sustained through collaboration between Cansa, healthcare institutions, volunteers, donors, schools, businesses, community organisations and specialist partners. These relationships help provide accommodation, meals, practical supplies, emotional support, awareness initiatives and improvements to spaces used by young patients and their families.
Partnerships with organisations such as DKMS, ALSAC and Know the Glow also extend the programme’s reach through donor awareness, professional learning and educational resources.
Contributions of time, skills, goods and services help keep support available throughout the year, including during school holidays and the festive season.
This September, Cansa invites individuals, schools, workplaces and community groups to take part in its Wacky Wardrobe Challenge by wearing their wildest mismatched outfits in support of children and young people with cancer.
Participants are encouraged to photograph their colourful creations, share them on social media, tag Cansa and use the hashtags #CansaCares and #CansaTLC. They can also challenge friends, colleagues and family members to join in and support Cansa TLC.
Meiring says the experiences of families supported through the programme illustrate why practical care and emotional support cannot be separated.
“One parent at Cansa TLC Nicus Lodge in Pretoria described how her family received a wheelchair after her child underwent multiple amputations, together with emotional support, food parcels and ‘so much love’,” says Meiring. “Other mothers told us how important it was to be able to bring younger siblings with them while caring for a child with cancer. For families facing the unimaginable, being able to remain together makes an enormous difference.”
She adds that teenagers and young adults can also experience profound isolation when treatment separates them from their homes, friends, teachers and studies.
“A young person does not stop being a daughter, son, sibling, learner or friend because they have cancer,” she says. “Our responsibility is to recognise the whole person and support the family and community standing beside them.”
For more information about Cansa TLC or to find out how to support children and families affected by cancer, visit www.Cansa.org.za or call Cansa toll-free on 0800 22 66 22.
