Transforming lives through awareness, education and community support.

About us

Kevin Kararwa Leukaemia Trust (KKLT) is a non-profit organisation currently registered in the UK. We aim to create awareness about leukaemia, offer support for patients and families affected with leukaemia and any other blood cancer. The trust focuses on education, community engagement, and targeted awareness to improve understanding of leukaemia and increase participation in stem cell registration among underrepresented populations.

Through culturally appropriate outreach, information sessions, and community led initiatives, We addresses longstanding disparities in diagnosis, access to information, and donor representation on the stem cell register. Our work is delivered by a committed team of volunteers and trustees with lived experience, professional expertise, and strong community links, ensuring programmes are both effective and trusted.

By empowering communities with knowledge and increasing the diversity of the stem cell donor pool, We contributes directly to improved survival outcomes and long-term systemic change for patients facing blood cancer.

Our Vision

To ensure everyone has the same leukaemia survival rate regardless of their ethnic background.

Our Goal

Raise the percentage of BME stem cell donors by 3% by 2030, increasing survival rates for underrepresented communities.
Our Values

Dedication, Commitment, Integrity, and Empathy guide everything we do.

  • We prides ourself on our dedication to others and the people we encounter regardless of their situations.
  • We are commited to our beneficiaries, donors, those blood cancers, their families and friends
  • KKLT believes in the strength of our integrity and aims to showcase this in everything we do.
  • Through our lived experience we want our beneficiaries to feel the empathy we have for their present and future position.

Kevin’s Story

The Kevin Kararwa Leukaemia Trust was born out of a profound sense of loss and a heartfelt mission. Kevin Kararwa, a vibrant and charismatic young man, was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 22. Due to the lack of ethnic diversity in the stem cell registry, finding a matching stem cell donor was an insurmountable challenge for Kevin, his family, and friends. Despite their tireless efforts, a suitable donor was never found.
 
Kevin’s brother offered a 50% matched donation, but unfortunately, it was not successful. In 2014, at the tender age of 24, Kevin lost his battle with leukaemia before a suitable donor could be found.
 
Kevin’s dying wish was to register over 2,400 new volunteer donors onto the UK bone marrow registry, a hundred for each year of his life.

Why our work is needed

The statistics show that leukaemia is more commonly diagnosed in white and black males than in Asian males. Although leukaemia only accounts for 3% of all cancer related deaths, there are still around 4,700 leukaemia deaths in the UK every year, which is 13 deaths a day. However, the survival rate for individuals diagnosed with leukaemia is improving with 1 in 2 surviving five years or more and 4 in 10 for ten years or more. In fact, the survival rate has more than quadrupled in the last 40 years in the UK.
Only 20% of BME patients in need of a stem cell transplant find a suitably matched donor, compared to 79% of White Northern European patients. BME donors make up between 13–17% of the stem cell register while black donors make up 1.2% of potential donors on the British Bone Marrow Registry.

Through our own research, we have found the most common issue is a lack of knowledge about the leukaemia and stem donation/bone marrow donations, particularly within the African communities in United Kingdom. We also recognise that other barriers have a significant role to play in this lack of knowledge and awareness. The key barriers that we have found are the issues around religious beliefs, cultural and traditional stances.

We have also identified a disparity in the survival rates between Caucasian and groups from other ethnic backgrounds. The figures show that white individuals have a over 70% chance of survival compared to under 20% chance for BME backgrounds.

Awareness Video