--- title: Resources for families with secondary breast cancer url: https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/secondary-breast-cancer/living-with-secondary-breast-cancer/resources-for-families-with-secondary-breast-cancer updated: 2026-03-24T01:05:19Z --- [Back to Living with secondary breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/secondary-breast-cancer/living-with-secondary-breast-cancer) 1. [Home](https://breastcancernow.org/) 2. [About breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer) 3. [Secondary breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/secondary-breast-cancer) 4. [Living with secondary breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/secondary-breast-cancer/living-with-secondary-breast-cancer) Healthcare Information # Resources for families with secondary breast cancer If you’re a parent or carer affected by secondary breast cancer, you can use this list of resources to help you talk with your children about breast cancer and the future. ## Speak to a nurse If you have any concerns about breast cancer, or just want to talk, our specialist nurses are here for you [0808 800 6000](tel:0808%20800%206000) We are open weekdays 9am to 4pm. Saturday 9am to 1pm ## In this section - 1. Books for parents and carers - 2. Books for children - 3. Animations and videos - 4. Useful organisations and websites - 5. Teenagers - 6. Special days and treats - 7. Making memories ## 1. Books for parents and carers Most of the books listed below are available through bookshops and online. It's also worth speaking to your local librarian or visiting your local cancer information centre, as many will stock and loan a variety of similar books. **Talking to Children and Teenagers When an Adult Has Cancer** (Macmillan Cancer Support, 2019) **How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk** Adele Faber and Elaine Mazilsh (Piccadilly Press, 2012) **As Big as it Gets: Supporting a Child When a Parent is Seriously Ill** (2nd edition, Winston’s Wish, 2007) **What Happens When Someone Dies?** Jennie Armstrong (available from See Saw, 2014) **Preparing Your Children for Goodbye** Lori Hedderman (Growth House, 2011) ## 2. Books for children Healthcare Information ### [Talking with children about breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/primary-breast-cancer/talking-with-children-about-breast-cancer) Learn more about talking with children about breast cancer, including how to talk to children of different ages, telling your child's school and where to get additional support. **The Secret C: Straight Talking About Cancer**Julie Stokes (Winston’s Wish/Macmillan Cancer Support, 2009) **When Your Mum or Dad Has Cancer** Ann Couldrick (Sobell Publications, 1991) **A Monster Calls** Patrick Ness (Walker Books, 2015) **The Rainbow Feelings of Cancer: A Book for Children Who Have a Loved One with Cancer** Carrie Martin and Chia Martin (Hohm Press, 2015) **A Dragon in Your Heart** Sophie Le Blanc (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1999) **Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children** Doris Stickney (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019) **The Sad Book** Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake (Walker Books, 2011) **The Huge Bag of Worries** Virginia Ironside (Hodder Wayland, 2011) **No Matter What** Debi Gliori (Bloomsbury, 2014) **Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You** Nancy Tillman (Feiwel and Friends, 2013) **The Invisible String** Patrice Karst (Little, Brown and Company, 2018) **The Cancer That Wouldn’t Go Away** Hadassa Field (Lulu.com, 2013) **Badger’s Parting Gifts** Susan Varley (Andersen Press, 1987) **Mum’s Jumper** Jayde Parkin (Book Island, 2019) available on [Book Island website](https://www.bookisland.co.uk/collections/books/products/mums-jumper) **I call her Mummy, she calls me brave** Nicola Owen – a mum living with secondary breast cancer (Lightening Source 2021) ## 3. Animations and videos **Cancer Hair Care** [Talking to children about hair loss](https://www.cancerhaircare.co.uk/videos-talking-to-children-about-cancer-related-hair-loss/) Using Free Hair Loss Dollies for [explaining hair loss to children](https://youtu.be/_NPtH8bpjcs?list=PLHIqPjTUcZkhVx6nXHg0L3avrZYeMfimf) Afro Hair Loss Guide [talking to a child using a Hair Loss Dolly](https://youtu.be/PN1762du9Sw) **The Fruit Fly Collective** [Telling your children you have cancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DYBKKbE2Lg&feature=youtu.be) **Medikidz** [Understanding breast cancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7KdmtQrQ9w) [Understanding Metastatic Breast Cancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0rGRav4u9s) ## 4. Useful organisations and websites Healthcare Information ### [Childcare support and breast cancer](https://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/life-after-treatment/childcare-support-and-breast-cancer) Find out about the charities, organisations and people who can help support you to manage childcare during and after breast cancer treatment. **Care for the Family** [Care for the Family](https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/) provides support for families facing difficulties. **Child Bereavement UK** [Child Bereavement UK](https://childbereavementuk.org/) wants all families to have support to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. Their mission is to ensure high-quality child bereavement support and information is accessible to all families. **Cruse Bereavement Support** [Cruse Bereavement Support](https://www.cruse.org.uk/) offers support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies. **Fruit Fly Collective** [Fruit Fly Collective](https://fruitflycollective.com/) produces Cancer Clouds Kits for children or young people whose parent has been diagnosed with cancer. Each kit contains an age-appropriate set of tools to explain what cancer is, the treatments given and the side effects they may cause. There are also tools to improve communication within the family, manage changes in the family’s routine, and explore the emotional impact a cancer diagnosis brings. The Hedgehog Cloud Kit (3-5 yrs) Pip’s Kit (specifically supports children aged 5 -10 years who have a parent or carer with incurable cancer or is in end of life care). The Tiger Cloud Kit (6-11 yrs) The Cancer Cloud Kit (12-14 yrs) Alternatively, you can browse all available tools and assemble your purpose-built kit. **Kids Konnected** This US organisation provides friendship, understanding, education and support for children and teens who have a parent with cancer or have lost a parent with cancer. Their [Bereavement toolkit](https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/ab5467_6ac715ae75f246d19bfb3ab3d5f76b16.pdf) and [Coping toolkit](https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/ab5467_c1e2890038a64fd6a6df26eca7bbe20b.pdf) can help families communicate, break feelings of isolation and help children be heard. **Little Parachutes** [Little Parachutes](https://www.littleparachutes.com/) collection of picture books that help children cope with worries, health issues and new experiences (big and small). **Maggie's Kids’ and Teen Days** Children and young people whose parents have cancer can take part in Kids’ Days (for ages 7–13) and Teen Days (14–18). Contact [Maggie's](https://www.maggies.org/) for further information. **Marie Curie** [Marie Curie](https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/) offers care and support through terminal illness, and has information on its website about [supporting children and young people when someone has a terminal illness](https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/publications/all/supporting-children-when-someone-has-terminal-illness) and [supporting children and young people when someone dies](https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/publications/all/supporting-children-when-someone-dies). **The Osborne Trust** [The Osborne Trust](https://theosbornetrust.com/) offers emotional and practical support for children of a parent with a cancer diagnosis and undergoing cancer treatment. **SeeSaw** Grief support for children, young people and their families in Oxfordshire, but website has lots of [useful resources](http://www.seesaw.org.uk/Resources). **The Little C Club** [The Little C Club](http://www.littlecclub.com/) have designed a set of flash cards to help explain a cancer diagnosis to children in an age appropriate and friendly way. **The Ruth Strauss Foundation** [The Ruth Strauss Foundation](https://ruthstraussfoundation.com/) believes that all parents receiving a terminal diagnosis, should have access to support and guidance to prepare for the future. Their Family Support Service and resources help families prepare for grief, death and dying. **Winston’s Wish** [Winston’s Wish](https://www.winstonswish.org/) is a charity that supports children when a parent has died. They give advice and support through their helpline and residential weekends. ## 5. Teenagers **Help to make sense** [Help 2 Make Sense](https://help2makesense.org/) is an online tool by Winston’s Wish, a charity supporting bereaved children and young people. It aims to help young people who have experienced the death of a loved one come to terms with their loss. Features the ASK email service and live chat, as well as podcasts, videos, stories. **Hope Support Services** [Hope Support](http://www.hopesupport.org.uk/) is for anybody aged 11-25 when a close family member is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, such as cancer. **The Good Grief Trust** [The Good Grief Trust](https://www.thegoodgrieftrust.org/find-support/for-young-people/) provide bereavement support for young people so they know they’re not alone. **As well as the services mentioned above, it’s also worth checking with your local hospice/palliative and supportive care services who usually provide support for children and young people.** ## 6. Special days and treats **Kicking off against cancer** [Kicking off against cancer](https://kickingoffagainstcancer.org/about-us/) help create once in a lifetime memories for a variety of people. **Something to Look Forward To** [Something to Look Forward To](https://somethingtolookforwardto.org.uk/about/) is a website where people with cancer and their families can access a variety of free ‘gifts’ donated by companies and individuals. **Willow Foundation** [Willow Foundation](https://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/) provides special days for seriously ill young adults (16-40). Its website includes information on eligibility criteria and how to apply. ## 7. Making memories **Macmillan Cancer Support**: [Making a memory box](https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/coping/advanced-cancer/relationships/making-a-memory-box.html) **Winston’s Wish**: [How to use a memory box with bereaved children and young people](https://www.winstonswish.org/how-to-use-a-memory-box-with-bereaved-children-and-young-people/) **RecordMeNow** The [RecordMeNow app](http://recordmenow.org/) lets you make a lasting video legacy for yourself, your family and loved ones. The app provides question prompts around topics like your home and childhood, heroes and hobbies. You can then record the answers on video. It’s private and completely free. It has been produced so everyone can leave messages and a supportive legacy for their loved ones and in particular young children. **Tailored Yarn** [Tailored Yarn](https://tailoredyarn.com/) create specially designed fictional stories which preserve memories. These are like the popular idea of memory boxes but in the unique form of a unique literature legacy. ### Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback ### Was this helpful? Was this helpful? Yes No Please tell us what you liked about it. Answered my questions Easy to understand Right amount of information Reassuring We’re sorry you didn’t find this helpful. Please tell us why. Didn't answer my questions Hard to understand Too much information Upsetting If you have any more feedback, please let us know. Please do not include personal details and be aware we cannot respond to comments. If you have a question please call our helpline on 0808 800 6000. Send feedback Print this page ### Quality assurance Last reviewed in September 2022. The next planned review begins in September 2024. ![Trusted information creator. Patient Information Forum](https://breastcancernow.org/_content/BreastCancerNow.UmbracoComponents/images/quality-assurance-logo.png) - ## Call our free helpline If you have any concerns about breast cancer, or just want to talk, our specialist nurses are here for you. [0808 800 6000](tel:0808%20800%206000) Lines open: Monday to Friday - 9am to 4pm; Saturday - 9am to 1pm - ## Explore ways to talk to our nurses It can be difficult to talk to someone in person about breast cancer concerns. Explore other ways you can ask a question. [Talk to a nurse](https://breastcancernow.org/all-services/talk-to-a-nurse) - ![Jane, a woman with a short silver bob, orange jumper and dark red checkered coat, holding a walking stick, smiling for a portrait to camera, with a wide landscape green field behind her.](https://d24otazn342w10.cloudfront.net/externalApps/06f289b5-a938-410c-a4c1-ec23427f38f5/conversion/card/assets/28067) ## Groups for people with secondary breast cancer You don't have to face secondary breast cancer alone. Join a group and connect with people who understand in a safe, supportive space. [Learn about the groups](https://breastcancernow.org/all-services/group-for-people-with-secondary-breast-cancer) - ![A woman sitting in a garden, looking peaceful](https://d24otazn342w10.cloudfront.net/externalApps/06f289b5-a938-410c-a4c1-ec23427f38f5/conversion/card/assets/24002) ## Events for younger women with secondary breast cancer If you're a younger woman with secondary breast cancer, we're here for you. Meet other women who understand and get tailored support. [Learn about our events](https://breastcancernow.org/all-services/events-for-younger-women-with-secondary-breast-cancer)