Bridging the gap between diagnosis and stability.
We exist because being diagnosed young is uniquely isolating. When cancer arrives in your twenties or thirties, you find yourself navigating something most people your age cannot imagine, often within a system built for an older generation. The loneliness can be as hard as the illness itself. We were founded to change that, and to make sure no young person has to face cancer feeling unseen, unsupported, or alone.
Our story began with one young person, a stage 4 diagnosis at 29, and the crushing loneliness that followed. Going through treatment during the isolation of the pandemic, our founder Josh became convinced he was the only person his age facing this. He wasn't. So he built a way for young adults in the same position to find one another. What started as a single WhatsApp group has grown into a thriving community of more than a hundred young people, and a charity with a mission to support many more.
Chat Cancer is a community and a charity for young adults affected by cancer.
At the heart of Chat Cancer is connection. We run monthly coffee mornings where members come together in person to talk, share, and simply be among people who understand, with no pressure and no performance. Between meetups, our members stay connected day to day through our online community, where support is available any time, including the hard moments that come in the middle of the night. What surprises most people who join is how much laughter there is. Cancer is heavy, but our community is not only heavy. It's friendship, honesty, and the place where the things too difficult to say to anyone else can finally be said out loud. Every member arrives feeling alone. None of them stay that way.
But cancer doesn't only attack your health. It attacks your stability. The cost of getting to and from treatment, time away from work, and everyday expenses all pile up at the exact moment your income and energy are stretched thinnest. That is why, alongside our community, Chat Cancer provides one-off financial grants to ease the burden, helping our beneficiaries keep a roof over their heads, cover essential living costs, and access the treatment-related support they need. By relieving that hardship, we help young people protect their wellbeing and life chances at the most difficult time imaginable.
Joshua Vintner-Jackson is the founder of Chat Cancer, living with stage four cancer and offering clear, experience-led support shaped by more than six years of navigating it firsthand.