VICTORIA'S Promise, a charity which supports young women through their cancer treatment, has launched a campaign to raise the £100,000 needed to bring their services to Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester.

Young women treated there will benefit from the critical support the charity is presently giving the young women at other hospitals in North Hampshire, Guildford and London.

Registered in 2014, following the death of Victoria Van der Westhuizen aged 29, her husband, mother and brother founded Victoria’s Promise to fulfill the wish she made while undergoing cancer treatment: a promise to help fill the needs outside of medical treatment that would make an enormous difference to young women with cancer and their families.

Three years on and the charity is making a huge impact across North Hampshire, helping to improve the quality of life and chances of survival for young women with cancer.

One of the women who is grateful that VP was there for her is Erica.

“As someone who has benefitted from the support of the services provided by Victoria’s Promise, I know how much it means to me and how huge an impact it’s had on my treatment and recovery," she said. "Thank you isn’t enough; I am so grateful to VP.”

Victoria’s Promise provides full support in areas that the NHS is not currently able to resource and fund.

These include counselling for the young women as well as family members .

The charity is constantly evolving and bringing new services in as they arise from the needs of the young women they support.

These include child minding, house cleaning, counselling for children struggling with their mother’s diagnosis, oncology massages by specially trained and qualified therapists to promote blood flow, relaxation and pain relief, oncology trained beauticians to help overcome the physical effects of cancer treatment.

Following treatment, VP offers nutritional therapy to support full recovery and help prevent recurrence.

The charity has also set up VP Women’s Networks Workshops which presently run in Basingstoke, Guildford and London.

Having gathered reports from young women regarding their feelings of isolation, these fun and friendly evenings bring together young women with cancer in a positive, educational and enjoyable way. They are set up for women during as well as after cancer treatment when women are often at their most vulnerable.

The trustees and founders of the charity believe cancer shouldn’t stop young women having the best life possible.

“VP is a life-changing charity with an incredible impact, highly regarded amongst patients and oncology nurse specialist," said Dan Parr, Cancer Services, at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

"We are hoping the local community will pull together to support bringing Victoria’s Promise to the people of Winchester.”

To bring VP services to the community of Winchester they are reliant on local businesses and individuals to get behind them to raise the funds so that the young women in their area can receive the support women in other areas are benefitting from.

To donate, text VPTW22 (amount) to 70070 or visit victoriaspromise.com/vp2w.

Businesses who would like to get behind this and be an ambassador to the campaign please contact Dino Rakitzis, VP General Manager, by email dino@victorias-promise.org