Teenage cancer charity gets keys to new home

Charity co-founder Debbie Pezzani (back, left) said she was proud to have worked with so many young people over the past 18 years

A teenage cancer charity is celebrating its 18th birthday by receiving the keys to a landmark new facility.

Teens Unite Fighting Cancer, based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, has purchased a property in nearby Broxbourne, which it hopes will be used to support people aged between 13 and 24.

Chief executive Roxanne Lawrance said it would be the first of its kind in England; designed to provide residential stays for teenagers who had been diagnosed with cancer.

The charity was set up in 2007 to bring young people with cancer together by organising short breaks and group days out.

It was founded by the fashion designer Karen Millen and her friend Debbie Pezzani, who met the charity's first beneficiary, Chris Firmager, then 19, while she was volunteering at a hospital in London.

Chris Firmager - pictured with Debbie Pezzani, Roxanne Lawrance and Karen Millen - was the first person supported by Teens Unite

Mr Firmager, from Stevenage, had been diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, which his younger brother Carl was also diagnosed with a year later.

Carl died in Mrs Pezzani's arms in 2005.

"It was that night that I said to Chris 'we need to do something'," she recalled.

"The medical support is amazing but, actually, everything else falls by the wayside."

The organisation initially worked with young people from Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent, but the introduction of virtual events in the pandemic quickly transformed Teens Unite into a national charity.

It said it was on track to achieve its goal of supporting 10,000 teenagers and young adults within the next 10 years.

Mrs Pezzani, from Wormley, who was awarded a British Empire Medal last year, said it had been her dream for the past 18 years to build a retreat for the young people.

Mr Firmager, now 41, is still in contact with many of the friends he made through Teens Unite and said he was proud of his brother's legacy.

"It's one thing to go through it yourself but to see someone else go through it that you care about is very difficult.

"He was a very special person and to know he's helped to make a difference to other people going through similar journeys… it's unbelievable."