An average of four children and teenagers are diagnosed with cancer in Ireland every week, yet renovations of the main paediatric cancer ward in the country are completely reliant on public donations.

St John's Ward in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, is the main cancer ward for children in Ireland. Last year alone, the ward dealt with 1,440 inpatients and over 7,200 day patients.

However, according to Gillian Smith of Light It Up Gold (LIUG), the facilities there were previously ‘completely inadequate' and while the ward is currently being upgraded, this is being funded entirely through public donations and a further €2 million is required to complete the job.

LIUG is made up of the parents of children who currently attend or have attended St John's. Its goal is to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

The movement was originally started in the US by Tony Stoddard, whose five-year-old son died of cancer in early 2012. It has now spread to countries around the world and in September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, famous buildings and landmarks around the world will be lit up gold, including in Ireland - the Mansion House and St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin and Eyre Square fountain in Galway.

According to figures from the National Cancer Registry, in 2010 alone, 238 children aged up to 19 were newly diagnosed with cancer in Ireland - two in three of these were aged 14 and under.

Currently, one in every 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before they reach the age of 20, while one in every 450 will be diagnosed by the age of 15.

Altogether, over 1,200 children in Ireland were diagnosed with cancer between 2005 and 2010 and it remains the leading cause of death from disease in children in this country.

While survival rates have improved, one in five children with cancer will die within five years of their diagnosis. An average of 34 children and teenagers died every year between 2007 and 2010.

Furthermore, even when a child reaches the major milestone of being cancer-free for five years, they are still at risk of recurrence of the original cancer, as well as secondary cancers. They may also face other major health issues as a result of their treatment.

While side-effects such as hair loss, vomiting, fatigue and bleeding are common when a child is actually being treated for cancer, later effects can include learning disabilities, stunted growth, infertility, heart problems and depression.

The devastating impact cancer can have on a child, their parents and siblings should not be underestimated, LIUG said.

According to Ms Smith, LIUG's short-term goal is to finish St John's Ward and to ensure that children diagnosed with cancer in Ireland ‘have facilities equal to those in other developed countries'.

"Access to equipment and medication is a huge issue in Ireland. There is only one MRI machine in Crumlin and for non-oncology patients, there is a two year waiting list for an MRI," she explained.

Long-term meanwhile, LIUG wants to raise awareness of this issue and raise funding for research into ‘better treatment methods'.

Treatment can last for years and is aggressive, however many drugs were developed as early as the 1950s and 60s.

"Worldwide, childhood cancer research is underfunded and occurring at too slow a pace. Pharmaceutical companies do not see childhood cancer drugs as profitable so fund virtually no research and development. The childhood cancers that have improved are often the ones that are also adult cancers," it said.

For more information on LIUG and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, email info@lightipupgold.ie or click on www.facebook.com/lightitupgold or www.lightitupgold.ie

See also our feature on one family's experience of childhood cancer here