A charity in North Wales that supports children through their parents' cancer has seen a major increase in service users in the last year. 

Osborne Trust is based in Rhyl, Denbighshire and supports around 560 children across the UK. 

The Trust was launched in 2014 by Emma Osborne after her cancer diagnosis at 36-years-old. 

Emma found that while support was available for cancer patients there wasn't much help offered for families, specifically children. 

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The experiences of Emma's two children, aged seven and four when she was diagnosed,  are the driving force of the trust’s work.

The trust provides children aged 18 years and under whose parent/s have cancer access to recreational activities during a parent/s treatment by funding up to three activities such as a cinema trip, play centre visit or a meal out.

Activities are supervised by an adult family member or friend. The aim is to offer the parent/s some rest and the children some time away from all that cancer entails.

In the last 12 months, Emma has seen a drastic increase in referrals to access the charity's services. 

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In North Wales alone the number of children supported by the charity has gone from 71 in June 2022 to around 119 currently, an increase of 67%. 

Emma said: "I believe this is impacted by the backlog from the pandemic, however the cost of living has also been a huge factor. 

"Potentially families that were comfortable before and didn't need the help are now needing that support."

Emma has seen first hand how the cost of living crisis is impacting families that the charity supports. 

She added: "We have never been so busy I have never seen anything like it in all nine years of running."

Across the UK the charity's demand has increased by 75% which has led to an increase in the overall costs.

Those wanting to donate to the charity can do so here. 

In an effort to boost funds the charity has launched several fundraisers, the latest of which has involved raffling an authentic Wrexham AFC players shirt from the Sheffield Utd FA Cup game worn by number 5 Hayden.

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The link to join the draw can be found here. 

The charity launched the shirt fundraiser on Monday, April 10, in line with Wrexham's nerve-wracking match against Notts County. 

Emma initially hoped to reach a target of £350, however thanks to Wrexham AFC huge fan base the gofundme page has superseded £1,000. 

Emma said: "We have had donations from all over the world including lots in dollars over night!"

The raffle will be drawn on Saturday, April 15 to coincide with the Wrexham game against Barnet.