MFT Charity launches Christmas Appeal to support pioneering RMCH Youth Service

For young people with long-term health conditions, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH) often becomes a second home—a place of comfort filled with familiar faces who feel like family.

But the transition to adult services, required by the time a patient turns 18, often turns this comfort upside down. What once felt safe can become overwhelming, leading to fear and anxiety that, at its worst, may cause young patients to avoid the vital appointments they need.

That is why this year, our Christmas Appeal will be raising vital funds to support our pioneering Youth Service. Members of the public can support the appeal by donating money, purchasing a ticket to our Christmas Carols in the City concert (12 December) or taking part in Christmas Jumper Day.

Our incredible Youth Service team works closely with children, young people, their families and clinical teams, ensuring they can step in at the crucial moment. They offer tailored support for patients aged 11 and upwards, and their families, easing the shift to new caregivers and unfamiliar environments.

Youth Workers also serve as advocates, empowering young people to find their voice, build confidence, and navigate the challenges of their conditions, both in the hospital and at home. Beyond transition support, the Youth Service provides a vibrant Youth Club and organises outings like escape rooms and adventures, connecting patients with peers who truly understand their journey.

“As soon as they knew I had become an inpatient the Youth Service came to see me,” says Sameer, 15, an inpatient who has spent months at a time in hospital undergoing complex treatment for a bone infection.

“The Youth Service is important to me because without them patients like me wouldn’t be able to make friends, we wouldn’t be able to socialise and be teenagers. For me they provide a chance to enjoy myself and forget about my disability – I am a human, I’m not a medical condition. As a teenager we’re supposed to socialise, where we go out, and where we learn new things. Being in hospital limits you, but the Youth Service has opened some of those doors for me.”

By building individual, voluntary and trusted relationships, Youth Workers support young people like Sameer to explore and manage all the different areas of their life which their health condition may have an impact on, helping them to feel seen, heard and understood.

In supporting our young patients through one of the most challenging periods of their lives, our Youth Workers help young people to develop a sense of identity and independence, enabling them to find their own voice.

Like Sameer, Lois, now a medical student studying at The University of Edinburgh, was in hospital for an extended period as a teenager. She was diagnosed with an eating disorder at 13 and spent 15 months being treated in hospital before returning home.

“When you’re 13, having 15 months in hospital takes out quite a formative chunk of life experience. I think missing that particular bit of adolescence changes you. I had lost most of my hobbies by the time I returned home. I found it hard to relate to my friends at school because I’d had such a different experience to them” Lois says.

Lois got involved with the Youth Service when she picked up a flyer for the Youth Forum and decided to go along. The Youth Forum is a space for young people to discuss and suggest improvements that could be made to our hospitals to better accommodate the needs of teenagers and young people.

“I couldn’t have done lots of the things that I have done if it weren’t for the Youth Forum and the Youth Service. I could sing their praises all day – they’re relentlessly positive and optimistic, and having that support is so encouraging.”

The skills Lois has gained from the Youth Forum have helped to set her on a path to incredible success. She came to the service having just returned home from hospital, ploughing through the backlog of her schoolwork, determined to complete her GCSEs. The Youth Forum has helped her gain the confidence to speak her mind and has shown her that her opinion and experience has an enormous amount of value.

Lois is now on track to complete a degree in Medicine at a prestigious university. It’s an enormous achievement for someone who missed half of their GCSE education and shows how important the Youth Service is in not just supporting children and young people during their time in hospital but building a lasting foundation for the rest of their lives.

Nic Rigby, Youth Service Programme Manager at RMCH says:

“Donating to this year’s Christmas Appeal is so much more than supporting a service. You’re giving a young person the life skills they need to flourish in adulthood. You’re making sure that young people’s futures aren’t limited because of a condition they had as a teenager or child. We’ve seen so many children and young people benefit from the service and the public’s continued support means we can continue to help so many more people in the future.”

Angela Rowe, Deputy Director at Manchester Foundation Trust Charity says:

“We’re really pleased to announce the RMCH Youth Service as the beneficiary of this year’s Christmas Appeal. We have seen firsthand the crucial role the Youth Service plays in the lives of children and young people in the hospital and this pioneering work wouldn’t be possible without public support.

“It can be difficult and frightening being in hospital at any age, but for children and young people, especially those with long-term conditions, life in hospital can be especially challenging, with the focus so often on the medical side. The Youth Service is there for everything else, helping children and young people navigate the very human things that come with growing up in a hospital setting. Please donate if you can – anything you feel able to give, no matter big or small, has the potential to have a life-long impact for our young patients, ensuring they are supported to flourish into adulthood.”