Our services for children and families

Support Line nurse

The Irish Cancer Society provides free services to all those affected by cancer, including children and their families.

Parent Peer-to-Peer Support 

Would you like to speak to a trained parent volunteer who really knows what you are going through, and understands what it is like to have a child with cancer?

We run a Parent Peer-to-Peer Support programme along with  Childhood Cancer Ireland and CanTeen Ireland.

The programme connects parents of children with cancer with trained parent volunteers who have children who have been treated for cancer in the past.

This service is also available to other adult family members (eg grandparents, aunts etc).

Speak to a parent who's been there

To be referred to one of our trained parent volunteers please call the Irish Cancer Society Support Line on Freephone 1800 200 700 or by email supportline@irishcancer.ie.

two mothers talking

The Irish Cancer Society's Children's Fund

The Irish Cancer Society’s Children's Fund offers financial support to the parents of children with cancer. This is to help them with the unexpected expenses that a diagnosis brings, such as travel expenses to cancer treatment appointments, heating bills and childcare costs. 

This one-off payment of €3,000 is not means tested. To qualify, the child:
-Must be under the age of 18
-Must have been diagnosed with cancer and currently be receiving treatment
-Must live permanently in Ireland

More information on this is available from the medical social worker in your child's hospital or by calling our Support Line on 1800 200 700.

In-hospital support

Our Children's Cancer nurse will be visiting Crumlin, to support to parents and families. 

Read more about in-hospital support.

Our Volunteer Driver Service for Children  

Our Volunteer Driver Service has recently expanded to provide transport for children and adolescents with cancer attending the National Children’s Cancer Service, Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin (CHI) for chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy in CHI.

Read more about the service and how to apply.

Information about childhood cancer

We produce booklets specifically for children with cancer. These books are sponsored by the Irish Cancer Society or produced in partnership with specialist paediatric centres and healthcare professionals: 

We cover design, print and distribution costs for these materials, working with specialist paediatric centres and healthcare professionals on the content.

All of our publications are available by calling the Support Line on Freephone 1800 200 700 or in hospitals and Daffodil Centres across the country. You can also download them.

Help with transportation costs to hospital

Travel2Care is a fund, made available by the National Cancer Control Programme and managed by the Irish Cancer Society. It is for patients who are having difficulty getting to and from their treatments while attending one of the centres of excellence or their satellites.

Free support over the phone and email

Our Support Line nurses can give advice on all types of cancer, coping, supports available and more. You can ask to talk to our Children’s Cancer nurse. Our Support Line is free to call on 1800 200 700 for parents of children with cancer. You can also email the nurses at supportline@irishcancer.ie.

In-home end-of-life nursing care

We provide end-of-life care for cancer patients in their own home. Our specialist palliative care nurses care for patients of all ages, including children.

Read more about palliative care and our Night Nursing service for children.

One-to-one advice and information

Our Daffodil Centres are located in 13 hospitals nationwide. The centres are staffed by cancer nurses and trained volunteers who provide confidential advice, support and information to anyone affected by cancer, including children and family of children going through cancer.

Childhood Cancer Fertility Project

The Childhood Cancer Fertility Project is a partnership between the Irish Cancer Society and Merrion Fertility Clinic which aims to ensure that, where possible, lifesaving treatment for children does not come at the cost of their future dreams of parenthood. Read more about the project and its aims. We also have information on fertility and children's cancer.

For more information

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Phone

1800 200 700

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Email