#01

Be you.

#02

Jump in.

#03

Always go first.

#04

The big Kinder bar.

#05

Laugh at everything.

#06

Say "I love you".

#07

Teach yourself something.

#08

Meet the hard days.

#09

Always turn up.

#10

Notice the sad ones.

#11

Come back for a cuddle.

John Doe

Altrum™ Director

Born from Luca

Built for every family like ours.

We stand with children facing cancer and autism — and with the parents carrying them. Everything we do grows from the way a little boy taught us to keep going.

Why we're here

A foundation for the family

Luca faced his last year with cancer with more courage, mischief and love than most of us manage in a lifetime. The Foundation carries his name because he taught us a way to move forward.

We know these roads because our own family has walked them — childhood cancer, and autism — and we know how often the right help arrives too little, too late. We built this so that other families don't have to find their way alone.

The child is the reason.

The whole family is who we hold.

So when we say we're for the family, we mean it literally. The world rushes to the child — rightly. But the mum running on no sleep, the dad holding down a job and a ward, the sibling quietly going without — they're carrying it too, and usually alone. We see them.

Jump in... even before you can swim.

In the water he had no fear at all. Barely two years old, he'd leap straight in and swim with his face under, those big green eyes looking up at you.

Legacy #

Jump in.

Come exactly as you are.

You don't have to be coping, have the right words, or fit anyone's idea of a "brave family."

A child who's different, a parent who's falling apart, a sibling acting out — all welcome, exactly as you are. Luca never once worried about being liked or loved; it followed him everywhere. We'd like that for you, too.

Notice the sad ones, and cup their face.

In the hospital lift he reached up to a sad old man, cupped the man's face in his hands and looked deep into his eyes. The man walked out lighter than he came in.

Legacy #

Notice the sad ones.

The ones everyone misses

This Foundation is for them every bit as much as for the child. Whoever you are in your family, and whatever kind of day you're having, there's a place for you here.

The diagnosis belongs to the child. The weight lands on the family.

How we go about it

We'll be honest with you: we're new, and not everything is in place yet. But families can't wait for perfect — "too little, too late" is the very thing we exist to change. So here's the spirit of it.

Jump in... even before you can swim.

In the water he had no fear at all. Barely two years old, he'd leap straight in and swim with his face under, those big green eyes looking up at you.

Legacy #

Jump in.

We jump in

We'd rather be in the water with you now than wait on the bank until everything's polished.

We'll start before we feel ready, try things, get some wrong, fix them quickly, and keep moving. If we waited for every answer, another family would go without.

Never once say “I don't want to go.”

Three weeks of being put to sleep every day for radiotherapy, always with a smile. He never complained. He never gave up.

Legacy #

Always turn up.

We show up — and we don't quit

Every day, even the hard and unglamorous ones, the same way Luca did. It's why you'll find us running marathons in racing leathers: showing up, and not stopping.

We'll get things wrong sometimes — when we do, tell us. We'd far rather know and fix it than pretend we're perfect.

You'll see a small blue butterfly throughout everything we do. It was Luca's sign that told us he was safe.

The butterfly

You'll see a small blue butterfly throughout everything we do. It was Luca's sign that told us he was safe.

Born from Luca

A foundation for the family

The child is the reason.

Jump in.

Come exactly as you are.

Notice the sad ones.

The ones everyone misses

How we go about it

Jump in.

We jump in

Always turn up.

We show up — and we don't quit

The butterfly

Love will shine through everything, always