Building a better future for children and young people with cancer, and their families. Together.

About us

The North Star Cancer Collective is a system wide movement.

We are not a frontline service. We create the conditions where evidence, lived experience, innovation and influence come together. The North Star Cancer Collective doesn’t replace what individual organisations do. Instead, it makes those efforts add up to more. Our value is in convening, resourcing and connecting.

Young Lives vs Cancer is the “backbone support organisation” within our collective. This role includes communication, coordination and administrative support. 

Our area of focus

The initial area of focus for the North Star Cancer Collective is to strengthen the mental health of children and young people with cancer, and their families – within and beyond treatment.

Alongside this, we will be working on two other areas:

1. Ensuring children and young people with cancer and their families have the right information at the right time.

   and

2. Strengthening the services and support that children and young people with cancer, and their families, receive after cancer treatment.

You can read more about our current test and learn projects here.

Our model

The North Star Cancer Collective follows a Collective Impact Initiative model.

What is Collective Impact?

“Collective impact is a network of community members, organisations, and institutions who advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve population and systems level change” (Collective Impact Forum, 2025).

Our governance structure