CAR-T Away from Home Service

Financial grant

We understand that patients and families undergoing CAR-T therapy may face financial difficulties, particularly when they must travel to access their treatment. Through our partnership with Dalata, we are pleased to offer a one-off grant of £500 to help alleviate some of these challenges. This grant can be used to support patients and families with travel costs, food, and other expenses such as energy bills due to time off work.

Hotel accommodation

Thanks to our hotel partner Dalata, we can offer free accommodation in one double or twin room for up to 30 days for up to two people. This is booked and arranged by us, and we must know the dates in advance. This cannot be exchanged for money, vouchers, or another hotel.

Additional information

One grant and hotel stay to be allocated per family.

The hotel stay is only open to those currently going through CAR-T therapy. You can apply as soon as you become aware that CAR-T is recommended as a treatment for you. We will only book the hotel from the day your therapy starts. We define the “beginning of therapy” to mean the day that conditioning therapy starts, before cells are reinfused.

You can choose when you would like the accommodation to be booked for – this might be to support a family member or friend whilst the patient is in hospital, or it might be useful during the period after discharge when the patient must stay close to the hospital for up to 30-days. This will be discussed during the application process.

Grants and hotel stays cannot be applied for retrospectively; you must apply before you begin conditioning chemotherapy or cell re-infusion.

This is a funded project from Dalata Hotels. Applications are awarded on a first come first serve basis, based on the date we receive the full application, until the available funding is depleted.

This fund is separate from the Cost of Living Fund. Please read the eligibility criteria below to determine which fund is best suited to your needs, as you may not be able to apply for both.

Please note: if you have previously received a grant from us, the amount that you received at that time will be deducted from the CAR T grant that you apply for if your application is successful.

The CAR-T Away From Home Service is designed to specifically cover some of the additional costs that arise when people have to stay away from home for CAR-T treatment.

To qualify for both the grant and the hotel accommodation, the applicant must live more than one hour away from the treatment centre. Anyone who is having CAR-T treatment locally can instead apply for other grants we have available at Leukaemia Care if they are eligible.

Patients or close family of patients must be CURRENTLY undergoing CAR-T therapy or similar cellular therapies. By currently, we mean CAR-T therapy is planned but the CAR-T cells have not yet been re-infused into the patient. See “What we will fund?” for more details, including advice on when to apply. This can be as part of a clinical trial, or an NHS approved treatment.

AND:

• Patient has a diagnosis of leukaemia, MDS, or an MPN.

Previous recipients of the Leukaemia Care Hospital Travel Fund, Hardship Fund or Cost of Living Fund can be considered for this grant if they fit the above criteria. Please contact us if you have any queries about eligibility.

One grant and hotel stay per family, and it cannot be applied for retrospectively. If you are not currently receiving CAR-T, you may be eligible for our cost of living fund instead.

Dalata Hotel Group is a collection of hotel brands. We are identified that each CAR-T centre in the UK has a Dalata Hotel Group hotel nearby, within the criteria required by CAR-T hospitals to stay within reach of the hospital. Often these are really close by.

The CAR-T hospitals and nearby hotels are:

Great Northern Children’s Hospital
Maldron Hotel Newcastle

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Clayton Hotel Leeds

Manchester Royal Infirmary
Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport

Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Birmingham)
Clayton Hotel Birmingham

Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (Glasgow)
Clayton Hotel Glasgow City

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clayton Hotel Cambridge

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust
Clayton Hotel Bristol City

University College Hospital
Clayton Hotel Chiswick

Great Ormond Street Hospital
Clayton Hotel City of London

There are two ways to apply:

1. Online, click the button below.

   Apply for CAR-T Away from Home Service

   If applying online:

   • We will not ask you for any bank details in the online form. If your application is successful, we will contact you directly for these in due course.

2. By downloading our paper form and sending it to us via email or in the post. The paper form can be downloaded here.

If using the paper form:

Please return to advocacy@leukaemiacare.org.uk or via post to:

FREEPOST RLXX-RJRA-ACRH,
Leukaemia Care,
One Birch Court,
Blackpole East,
Worcester, WR3 8SG

If you have any queries about the fund or how to complete the application form, please call the Leukaemia Care helpline on 08088 010 444 (service available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm).

How your application is processed

1. We will acknowledge receipt of your application
2. Your application will be assessed by the Patient Services Team
3. You can expect a decision within 10 working days of Leukaemia Care assessing your application
4. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email or post
5. Successful applicants will also be contacted by phone to discuss next steps

Your application will only be assessed if:

• You meet all of the eligibility criteria
• All parts of the application form are fully completed
• There are funds available/remaining within the CAR-T Away From Home fund for distribution

Application successful

If you are applying for hotel accommodation, it is necessary to pass your details onto Dalata hotel groups to allow us to book the hotel on your behalf. By submitting the form, you consent to us doing this.

This service would also not be possible without funding from our corporate partners. By submitting this form, you consent to us sharing the information in this form about why you need support anonymously through our own channels (e.g. internal reports, emails, social media) and with our corporate partners. We may also contact you to get more information about your situation. This will make sure we demonstrate the impact of the funding.

We will also ask you for feedback on the service, to allow Leukaemia Care to measure the impact of the service once you have received the grant and completed your hotel stay. We will also contact you to see if we can help with anything else. Leukaemia Care has a dedicated welfare officer and an advocacy officer who can help with accessing further grants or with other issues resulting from the diagnosis such as time off work.

Application unsuccessful

We are sorry your application has been unsuccessful. This is likely due to one of two reasons; either you do not meet the eligibility criteria or, the CAR-T Support Fund has been exhausted due to high demand.

If you are not currently receiving CAR-T, you may be eligible for our cost of living fund instead. We will contact you to see if we can help in another way.