Line of Duty and Trigger Point star, Vicky McClure, has announced an intimate homecoming music event to raise vital funds for teenagers with cancer.
Every day, seven young people in the UK aged 13 to 24 hear the words “you have cancer.”
Teenage Cancer Trust puts young people in the best possible place, physically, mentally and emotionally for their cancer treatment and beyond.
This Is Nottingham is taking place at Metronome on Saturday, December 3 to raise funds and bring awareness to Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Nottingham centric event focusses on local talent.
Bru-C from Long Eaton was the first headliner to be announced with more artists to be added to the line-up shortly.
The actress has recently been named the first Teenage Cancer Trust Icon after working with the charity for over ten years.
This Is Nottingham is a homage to her BAFTA winning performance in This Is England.
She visited and later opened the Hogarth Teenage Cancer Trust hospital unit for young people at Nottingham City Hospital and became an ambassador.
In an interview at Metronome Vicky said: “It is really special and lovely to be recognised as the first Teenage Cancer Trust Icon, but ultimately I love using the platform I am lucky enough to have for good causes.”
Kate Collins, Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We’re delighted to announce Vicky as our first Icon.
“In these increasingly hard times it’s getting tougher and tougher to raise the funds needed to keep vital services for young people with cancer going, Vicky’s commitment to Teenage Cancer Trust and young people with cancer is phenomenally important.”
She added: “With her help, we’ll also be able to shine a spotlight on the needs of young people with cancer – keeping them and their needs in the public eye.”
The actress recently visited the Hogarth unit and met young people and Teenage Cancer Trust funded nurses and youth support coordinators.
Vicky said: “(It was) inspiring and heart breaking. I have seen, met and spoken to people who are no longer here or had a diagnosis and got through it who are living their lives to the fullest.
“I know to each and every one of them when they were going through their diagnosis and their treatments those wards were like lifelines to them.”
“Having people on the ward who are of similar ages is really important. For their families to be able to see them comfortable and have their mates over to stay.”
The actress added: “It is really unique what Teenage Cancer does. I think it is vital that those kind of attentions to detail are there for young people living with cancer.”
Kerry Worton, aged 24, from Ripley, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in May 2022.
She said: “The Teenage Cancer Trust unit at Nottingham City Hospital doesn’t feel like a cancer ward at all.
“Considering it’s in a hospital, it’s a really relaxed and comfortable place to be.”
“Meeting Vicky was great, she was so easy to talk to and clearly cares a huge amount about the work that Teenage Cancer Trust does.”
Kerry said: “It was so nice of her to sit down with everyone, take the time to listen to each young person, and hear what we’re going through.”
The Hogarth unit is one of 28 run and funded by the charity, supporting 19 to 24 year olds.
They have been designed to feel more like home than a hospital ward.
From private bedrooms, cosy furnishings, TV and gaming facilities and free WIFI and laptops.
Teenage Cancer Trust’s core ethos is that a cancer diagnosis should not define who a young person is.
The charity funds units, specialist nurses and youth support teams within the NHS and are determined to not let cancer stop young people living their lives.
The Confetti Media Group have donated the Metronome venue for the event with Vicky stating: “There’s no space like Metronome, it is a really cool venue with brilliant people backing it.”
Demand for the event is expected to be high.
Tickets are available for the intimate gig through entering the raffle costing £10 to try and secure a pair of tickets and support these vital services.
To enter the raffle for tickets for the This Is Nottingham event, visit: Teenage Cancer Trust
Or to make a donation to Vicky’s Icon fundraising appeal, visit: www.teenagecancertrust.org/Vicky-McClure
Featured Image Credits: Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies and Tom P Morley