Quality of Life award

Living longer, living better: Supporting recovery for adults with low grade brain tumours

For many people diagnosed with a low grade brain tumour, the journey through diagnosis, treatment and beyond can significantly affect their quality of life. It can impact them physically, emotionally and cognitively, and often people can struggle to access the right support at the right time.

This award will promote the development of multidisciplinary collaborations to design interventions aimed at improving rehabilitation and/or prehabilitation for adults living with a low grade brain tumour, with funding available to support the most promising projects.   

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Key Dates

• Call for applications opens: 21 May 2025
• Deadline for applications: 16 July 2025
• Applicants notified of outcome: September 2025

We will work with our SAB and experienced workshop facilitators to identify 30-40 applicants to take part in the sandpit event. Please see the Assessment Criteria below.
If your application is successful, attendance at the residential sandpit event and the online sessions is mandatory.

The dates for the online sessions will be confirmed in due course but the provisional timetable is as follows:

• Online orientation session: TBC
• Sandpit event: 3-4 November 2025 at The Writer’s Suite, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre, Birmingham
• Feedback session: TBC
• Presentation session: TBC

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Challenges faced by adults living with low grade brain tumours

The impact of a brain tumour and its treatment can have a uniquely devastating impact on somebody’s quality of life. The impact varies based on the tumour’s location, the person’s age at diagnosis, and the treatment received. 

Nearly three years later, my memory loss has gone from bad before surgery to severe, with over 20 years preceding the operation almost gone and an inability to retain new memories.

I also developed severe head pain, neuro-fatigue, and a range of cognitive and emotional emotional changes – ADHD symptoms, sensory sensitivity, and executive dysfunction. I struggle with communication, word-finding and social cues, and have also developed anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and sleep disturbances.

The lack of aftercare has had a significant impact on my ability to recognise and manage these challenges, leaving me in a constant state of extreme stress. With some effort, I was referred to one of the best neuro rehab facilities in the country but after my initial excitement, it took two years of fighting the system before I was allocated a place.” – Imelda Turnock, one of our Involvement Champions

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Innovative research is needed  

This call involves participating in a sandpit event which aims to fund research into novel solutions and interventions that support rehabilitation for adults following a low grade brain tumour. Ideas that also include prehabilitation (support before treatment) will be considered eligible for this call.

The research ideas developed at the sandpit event could include, but are not limited to:  

• evaluation studies with the potential to lead to changes in national practice, fill an evidence gap or create new knowledge and that would have a significant impact on quality of life for people affected by a brain tumour  
• research to establish feasibility and to pilot novel interventions that aim to address an unmet physical, or cognitive need   
• research that focuses on adapting an existing intervention to a new context or amalgamation of separate, defined interventions so that they complement each other  
• feasibility and pilot testing of implementation strategies.  

All research proposals developed at the event must have a clear route to patient benefit.  

What is a Sandpit? 

A sandpit is a type of discussion forum, where collaboration and free thinking is encouraged to explore problems and uncover innovative solutions. The goal is to develop ideas and solutions through discussions with experts from a variety of areas. 

The Brain Tumour Charity Quality of Life Sandpit will be a two-day residential event supported by three half-day online events. The online events will help the applicants get to know each other and understand the challenges before the sandpit. They will also give project teams more time to develop their ideas into research proposals after the event.   

The event will be led by a director who will be helping to define the problem and facilitate the discussions. The director will be supported by several members of our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and people with lived experience of a brain tumour.

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Guidance for applicants

Eligibility criteria

The aim of the sandpit event is to bring people together who would not normally interact, to come up with exciting new ways to support people affected by brain tumours.   

Applicants may come from any discipline, including, but not limited to: neuro-oncology, nursing, neuroscience, psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, radiation oncology, data science, service design, service transformation, statistics, health economics, behavioural science, implementation science – indeed anyone who is interested in this area of research and improving the quality of life for children and young people affected by brain tumours.    

Researchers and professionals working from a wide range of disciplines with a passion to improve the quality of life for children and young people with brain tumours are encouraged to apply.  

Applicants must be:   

• collaborative and able to work effectively as part of a team  
• creative and driven to find new ways to solve the challenges facing children affected by brain tumours  
• willing to engage with key stakeholders, including patients and their carers, from a variety of backgrounds  
• able to attend all days of the workshop and can commit to attending online events before and after the workshop  
• affiliated with a UK academic or medical institution.  

Diversity is also important to The Brain Tumour Charity and consideration will be given to discipline, experience, gender and location.   

Assessment criteria

Applicants are invited to apply to participate in the sandpit event on 3-4 November 2025. Applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:   

• Expertise  

The applicant’s expertise must add value to this event and any potential award.   

• Collaboration  

The applicant must demonstrate an ability to work within teams and collaborate with those from different backgrounds.   

• Patient-focused  

All awards must offer the potential for patient benefit, and applicants must clearly demonstrate a willingness to work with people affected by brain tumours throughout their research.   

• Innovation  

Applicants must be prepared to think creatively about problems and share radical ideas to solve the biggest problems facing people affected by brain tumours.   

Our panel of experts will make recommendations for funding based on the presentation at the end of the sandpit exercise. Successful teams will then be given the opportunity to develop a full proposal before funding will be awarded. The assessment criteria for proposals will be shared with attendees to the sandpit event.   

Download the brief – PDF

Read the brief to learn more about the Quality of Life Research Sandpit and Award

Sign up to the sandpit event