An amazing new facility for those struck by cancer has been created in memory of an inspirational teenager
The vision of an inspirational teenager has come to life after a new charity cancer hub opened its doors.
Team Jak Foundation aims to create a bespoke facility where young cancer patients and those with other related illnesses and their families and friends can go to escape from the traumas of treatment or chill with their friends in a clean and safe environment.
The charity was set-up by the late Jak Trueman and has family, who have been fundraising to create Jak’s Den in Livingston.
The organisation opened its first hub in 2015 to provide emotional and practical support for young people living with the disease – however the facility has proven so popular that a new central hub has been opened at Ochil House in Livingston.
Alongside amazing spaces for children to play and relax, the new hub provides a sensory room for children and places for both youngsters and their parents to receive therapy and relax.
Diagnosed with gammadelta T-cell lymphoma, a very rare cancer, 15-year-old Jak went on a fundraising mission which rapidly enlisted the support of the public as well as sports personalities and celebrities alike.
His mum Allison Barr founded Team Jak – which was nominated for Charity of the Year at last year’s Scottish Charity Awards - to ensure her son’s vision for a place where young people like him could relax became reality.
“Absolutely everything that Jak said he wanted is in the new facility,” Allison told TFN. “The sun was shining as we opened and as a choir performed a song called Give Us Hope a feather floated through and then butterflies appeared. To me, that was Jak saying he was watching and smiling down on us.”
Hundreds of guests attended the opening, which will allow the charity to not only support more families, but offer a greater level of support to those that need help.
“It is absolutely vital that facilities like this are available,” Allison added. “It’s not just about making the children feel comfortable, and be able to have normal experiences, but about giving the families more bespoke support.
“The whole family needs support as they are living their normal lives, but everything is thrown into turmoil when a child falls ill.
“With the new facility, they can come to this haven where they can all relax and begin to feel normal again.”
