The Rangers Charity Foundation today (11 August 2009) announced Teenage Cancer Trust as its new National Charity Partner for season 2009/10.

Over the course of the season the Foundation will aim to raise £30,000 for the charity which helps young people fight cancer. This money will go towards Teenage Cancer Trust’s planned specialist teenage cancer units at the new Children’s Hospital in Glasgow and at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

A kitchen/eating area will be created at Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit in Glasgow and a chill-out room at the Edinburgh unit. These will bring young people with cancer together, helping them to make new friends of their own age so they can support each other.

Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson welcomed a group of young people to the Stadium today to mark the start of the year-long partnership.

Thomson was also unveiled as the Rangers Charity Foundation’s new Charity Champion, acting as an ambassador for the Foundation and helping to raise funds and promote its work and the work of its partners.

Kevin commented: “It is a huge honour and privilege to be selected as the new Rangers Charity Champion. I was asked to be involved in the selection process for the Foundation’s National Charity Partner and was hugely impressed by the work of Teenage Cancer Trust. I will be doing everything I can to help the Foundation raise funds for this worthwhile cause and also to assist with the great work the Foundation does via its other projects and activities.”

Young people are susceptible to the rarest and most aggressive forms of cancer and the emotional upheaval of adolescence can make a cancer diagnosis even harder to cope with. Teenage Cancer Trust understands that teenage cancer requires specialist care and that young people have a much better chance if they are treated by teenage cancer experts, in an environment tailored to their needs. The charity builds specialist units in NHS hospitals which improve the quality of life and chances of survival for young people with cancer.

Dawn Crosby, Teenage Cancer Trust’s Head of Scotland and Northern Ireland, commented: “We are delighted that the Rangers Charity Foundation will be supporting Teenage Cancer Trust this year. Every day, six young people are diagnosed with cancer, but we don’t believe they should stop being teenagers just because of their diagnosis.

“The units the Foundation will be raising money for are designed to be as close as possible to a young person’s life outside. Most importantly they give young people the very best chance of a positive outcome. We want every young person with cancer in Scotland to have that chance.”

Rangers Charity Foundation