We are truly thankful for all your support
KKLT has been a volunteer lead charity for almost 10 years, working to ensure people suffering from leukaemia get the chance to live longer and healthier lives. This has only been possible with your support and the hard work of the volunteers involved.
Celebrating progress
Let us look back at some highlights of what KKLT has been up over the past year
Over the past year, KKLT has attended multiple events to help raise awareness about Leukaemia. We attended the Mitcham carnival in June 2024, Kenya Friends in the Park 2024, and many more other events across the country. In October 2024, we attended the Black history Month event in Milton Keynes where we signed up dozens of new people who could one day potentially save someone’s life!
A BIG thank you to the Post Code Lottery for funding our outreach events.
For almost 10 years, KKLT is very proud to have helped people find a donor. For example, meet Ben, who registered with KKLT several years ago and years later, received a call to say he has become a match and can save a life. Click the video to listen to his inspirational story and be inspired to register too!
Tomorrow it could be one of your loved ones that needs a stem cell donor.
The same happened with Purity, (pictured below) who in 2023, found out she was a match for a patient suffering with leukaemia- she became a stem cell donor and gave someone a second chance at life. Now, she wants others from her community to join the stem cell register.
Health and Emotional Wellbeing
Dealing with health issues goes beyond the physical. Illness can be lonely. In 2023 KKLT started some wellbeing groups to support people dealing with leukaemia and other cancer related illnesses. The bi-weekly sessions allowed people dealing with this disease to speak safely about how they were coping and be helped financially with food shopping expenses. The wellbeing project also allowed KKLT to collaborate with St George’s Hospital where we were invited to speak and present KKLT to the hospital and work with their blood cancer patients.
Engaging the Youth
KKLT continues to also work in engaging young people to become aware of Leukaemia and how easy it is to register- we attended events such as the Milton Keynes Children, Youth and Parents event, where KLLT received an award celebrating the work the charity has done in the community. Other events to engage the youth have also included confidence building workshops such as the Discover You programme , funded by the Big Lottery. KKLT also attended Wimbledon College For Boys to educate young people on blood cancer awareness; this was also a very special event as it was where Kevin Kararwa attended college. A full circle moment for KKLT.
Another highlight is the success of the KKLT Black Tie Dinner Gala event that was held in May 2023 at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston. Being a charity that is purely volunteer lead; this event came together through the efforts of KKLT volunteers, who took out their time and talents and made this amazing event a reality.
The 2023 Dinner Gala event attracted 150 attendees and raised over 10,000 pounds. The money raised is being used to carry out the charity’s work. If you would like to donate to KKLT, please visit https://www.kkltrust.org/financial-support/
Looking Forward
2025 will be 10 years since KKLT started
Over the years since the charity started, KKLT has identified a disparity in the survival rates between Caucasians and groups from black and minority ethnic backgrounds (BME) The figures show that white individuals have a 70% chance of survival compared to only 20% chance for BME backgrounds. This is why KKLT works hard to ensure we remove this disparity.
To date, KKLT has significantly increased the number of black and ethnic people on the donor registry through our work and outreach events. We are also proud to say, in the last year alone, 5 people became successful stem cells matches. 5 may sound like a small number but that means 5 lives, 5 families and friends have been impacted and were able to see a loved one live and survive blood cancer. We are very proud of this achievement and hope we can continue saving lives through KKLT.
We also take this moment to remember Kevin Kararwa ,who was an amazing, courageous young man, that inspired the birth of KKLT and as a result has saved many lives. Kevin would have been 35 years old this year. To get an idea of Kevin’s story, click here
With your continuous support, together, we can give many more others a second chance at life
