Campaign Overview
The cancer psychological aftercare campaign for Future Dreams focused on a hidden gap in cancer care: what happens emotionally once treatment ends. Using Freedom of Information research from NHS Trusts across England, the campaign showed that many patients face inconsistent support after active treatment, with access often depending on where they live.
The strength of the campaign was its human focus. Rather than treating aftercare as a policy issue, it explored the fear, anxiety and uncertainty many cancer patients face after hospital appointments become less frequent. With Future Dreams spokespeople, clinical expertise and a breast cancer survivor voice available, the story gave broadcasters both authority and lived experience.
This cancer psychological aftercare campaign cut through because it connected a strong FOI finding with a clear patient need. With Sky News TV, ITV Anglia, Sky News Radio, BBC regional radio and wider regional broadcast coverage, the campaign positioned Future Dreams as an important voice on survivorship, emotional recovery and support beyond treatment.
Strong Results in Context
- Secured Sky News TV coverage, giving the campaign a major national news platform
- Delivered ITV Anglia coverage across East and West Anglia, taking the postcode lottery story into regional TV news
- Secured Sky News Radio coverage, extending the story across national radio news audiences
- Delivered BBC regional radio interviews across Three Counties, Cambridge, Suffolk, Northampton, Norfolk and Essex
- Generated further regional radio coverage across Lincolnshire, the Midlands and the West Midlands
- Used Future Dreams House as a filming location, helping bring the UK’s only dedicated breast cancer support centre into the story
- Messaging consistently focused on the postcode lottery in psychological aftercare and the need for support beyond treatment
Audience Insight
- 48% of NHS Trusts surveyed do not have a formal survivorship pathway that includes psychological support
- 15% report providing no post-treatment support at all
- Support varied sharply by region, from 88% of Trusts surveyed in the South West offering a formal pathway to just 20% in the East of England
- In London, fewer than half of Trusts surveyed reported having a formal pathway
- 22% of Trusts place formal time limits on psychological support
- 38% rely on charities as part of their support offer
- 76% of Future Dreams users sought emotional support more than two years after completing primary treatment
The Challenge
- The campaign needed to make post-treatment psychological support feel urgent, not secondary to physical cancer care
- It had to turn FOI data into a clear human story for mainstream broadcasters
- The story needed to show regional variation without becoming too policy-heavy
- Patient experience had to be handled sensitively while still showing the emotional impact of gaps in care
- Future Dreams needed to be positioned as both a support charity and a credible voice in the wider cancer care debate
