The Challenge

Primary bone cancer is rare and aggressive, disproportionately affecting children and young people. While BCRT was founded as a research-led charity, demand for support services has grown rapidly over time. In response, BCRT developed a support service in 2019, offering emotional, practical, and peer-led support through a helpline, virtual and local groups, financial grants, and flagship events.

However, the service had evolved organically. With rising demand and an ambition to reach 75% of newly diagnosed patients, BCRT needed to step back and ask some critical questions:

  • Are we meeting the biggest needs?

  • Are we duplicating services offered elsewhere?

  • What’s the right structure and investment to scale effectively?

  • How do we evidence and grow our impact over time?

The Objective

To review and reimagine the support service, ensuring it is:

  • Grounded in patient and family needs

  • Aligned with the wider support ecosystem (e.g., NHS, Macmillan)

  • Scalable and feasible within resource constraints

  • Designed to demonstrate clear and measurable impact

The Approach

Phase 1: Immerse

We began by understanding patient needs, internal ambitions, and the current support service:

  • Kick-off workshop with BCRT’s core team

  • Review of internal strategy and service data

  • 10 in-depth interviews with patients (some current users, some not)

  • 150+ survey responses from patients and their networks

  • Staff interviews with the current support team

  • Insight synthesis and creation of a ‘Current State Blueprint’ showing the full user experience

Phase 2: Make Sense

We mapped the wider landscape of support and co-created a future vision:

  • Ecosystem mapping of NHS and third-party services

  • Expert interviews with healthcare professionals and support providers
    Co-creation workshop with patients and internal teams to imagine a better future service

  • Design and iteration of a Future Service Blueprint, aligning touchpoints, resourcing, and impact measures

  • Validation sessions with BCRT leadership and the support team to test feasibility and investment needs

The blueprint was tailored to maintain BCRT’s hallmark personalisation, while addressing the biggest opportunity gaps — notably in mental health, early diagnosis support, and more accessible peer-to-peer connection. It also clarified where to invest directly and where to signpost to trusted partners, reducing duplication.

The Impact

  • A clear, co-created Future Support Service Blueprint for BCRT to scale its impact

  • Confidence from staff and trustees to align behind one strategic direction

  • Prioritised areas for investment based on need, feasibility, and impact

  • Clarity on the mental health support gap, and recommended routes to fill it

  • A service designed to reach more people, more effectively, without losing its humanity

  • Strengthened engagement from internal teams and patients through meaningful co-design

This foundational work gives BCRT the evidence, alignment and vision needed to present a credible business case to funders and trustees for the next phase of investment and delivery.