CanTeen (www.canteen.org.au) is the Australian organisation that supports, develops and empowers 12 to 24 year olds living with cancer, such as young people with cancer, or who have a sibling or parent with cancer, or have a sibling of parent who have died from cancer.

CanTeen is unique as it is the only Australian charity that offers peer to peer support and focuses on the psychosocial needs of 12 to 24 year olds living with cancer. It is a Member driven organisation. The Members are young people living with cancer and may take-on leadership roles within the organisation, for example, it has five Members on the Board of Directors.

Twenty tickets have been given to CanTeen for each WNBL and NBL game this week, allowing their members to attend the games and see the action up close.

If you get along to a game this week you can help support and raise awareness for CanTeen, all the times and locations for the WNBL and NBL games for the week are below.

CanTeen supports their members in a number of ways including delivering in excess of 80 camps, programs and services each year.

The 2010 National CanTeen Camp was held last week at Point Wolstoncroft in the Lake Macquarie region. Jayco Opal and Sydney Uni Flame Deanna Smith, alongside Olympian and Former Flame Trish Fallon attended the camp to have a chat to the members and hang out with them for the afternoon. Watch the video at the bottom of this story to see if Deanna and Trish won the Street Ball challenge laid down by the CanTeen members.

CanTeen invests in research to increase understanding of the needs of young people living with cancer, and in turn, deliver targeted quality programs and services.

CanTeen’s research program also helps to identify gaps in service delivery to young people living with cancer.  As a result of this, CanTeen also has a very strong advocacy program.

A program of CanTeen which you can take part in is the Raise More Than A Sweat initiative (RMTAS) which encourages everyone to help raise funds to support young people living with cancer in easy ways… doing just about anything.

You can choose to Raise More Than a Sweat on your own or as part of a team. Why not get your work colleagues, school or sports club involved? Run, cycle, walk or swim in an organised event, such as the City2Surf or City~Bay, or get creative and devise your own challenge.

Previous participants have Raised More Than a Sweat by pushing a wheelbarrow 90km up hill, kayaking from one side of the bay to the other, running on a treadmill for 24 hours, climbing a mountain and even shaving their head. The possibilities are endless!

Once you have decided how you are going to Raise More Than a Sweat you simply need to register your event or challenge with CanTeen: www.everydayhero.com.au/event/canteen and ask your friends and family to sponsor you and then get moving!

CanTeen will provide you with a fundraising kit including a free t-shirt and will support you with your fundraising efforts to help make the fundraiser a success.

Games this week:

WNBL

Sydney Uni v Logan – ACUVUE Sports Hall, Sydney, 7.00pm Friday
Dandenong v AIS – Aurora Sports Stadium, Hobart, 8.00pm Friday
Adelaide v Townsville – Distinctive Homes Dome, Adelaide, 5.15pm Saturday
Canberra v Logan – Southern Cross Stadium, Canberra, 7.00pm Saturday
Bulleen v Bendigo – The Veneto Club, Bulleen, 7.30pm Saturday
Bendigo v AIS – Bendigo Stadium, 2.00pm Sunday
Perth v Townsville – Perry Lakes Stadium, Perth, 6.00pm Sunday

NBL

Melbourne v Adelaide – State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne, Wednesday 7.30pm
Townsville v New Zealand – Townsville Entertainment Centre, 7.30pm Wednesday
Gold Coast v Melbourne – Gold Coast Convention Centre, 7.30pm Saturday
Adelaide v Townsville – The Dome, 7.30pm Saturday

Jayco Opal and Sydney Uni Flame Deanna Smith speaks about her experience at the 2010 National CanTeen Camp (below)