CanKids is India’s largest and only national NGO dedicated to childhood cancer
CanKids has driven access to care for kids with cancer from 29% to 53% by 2025, with a goal of 100% access, 100% financial protection, and 60% survival by 2030.
New Delhi 21th September: CanKids KidsCan, India’s largest and only dedicated national NGO for childhood cancer, proudly announces that its flagship initiative “Cycle for Gold” has been awarded the prestigious Indian CSR Award 2025 in the category of Best Cancer Initiative of the Year. Some of the other awardees to receive recognition were Amazon, PnB MetLife and L&T Finance to name a few.
Indian CSR Awards, acknowledges and felicitates individuals and organizations for their impactful CSR initiatives in education, healthcare, poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability and rural development. The award recognizes Cycle For Gold’s impact in advocacy, patient engagement, and strengthening the childhood cancer ecosystem.
Cycle for Gold (CFG) is a pan India cycling challenge organized every year by CanKids, where people committed to cycle, at their convenience anywhere and for any distance. This took place from World Cancer Day on 4th February and continued till March 16th. During this period thousands of Cyclists from all walks of life including students, professionals, doctors, cancer survivors took the challenge to cover over 7,30,000 KMS, honoring the approximately 400000 children afflicted with cancer globally. With challenge participants from 100 Cities and 3 countries, CFG raised over Rs 2 Crore for care of Children with Cancer. Fuelled by cornerstones of fitness, health and unity, CFG harnesses the collective power of individual and team achievements brand sponsorships, CSR partnerships and individual philanthropy, to create awareness and mobilize communities across India to cycle, unite, and pledge for childhood cancer.
To celebrate this achievement, CanKids, in partnership with one of its long-standing supporters – Boston Consulting Group (BCG), distributed exclusive gold-illustrated t-shirts of beloved CanKids mascots Taklu & Takli to children undergoing treatment across hospitals and CanKids Care Centres. The initiative seamlessly ties into CanKids’ Gold September Campaign – “Ban Jayenge Gold”, a movement that celebrates childhood cancer warriors and their unique journeys. With hashtags like #BanJayengeGold and #UnitedByUnique, the campaign seeks to highlight stories of strength, amplify awareness, and remind the world that every child deserves the right to care.
“This award is not just a recognition of our work, but a salute to every child who fights cancer with courage, to every family who stands strong, and to every caregiver who brings hope. Cycle for Gold embodies the spirit of resilience. When our children wore those golden t-shirts, they weren’t just wearing fabric – they were wearing their stories of grit, determination, and dreams. At CanKids, we believe in bringing out the gold in every child’s journey, and this award reaffirms our promise of patient-centered care and the philosophy of My Right to Care” said Ms. Poonam Bagai, Founder, CanKids KidsCan
“At BCG, we believe that every child deserves not just treatment but the chance to live, learn, and thrive. Building awareness is critical to ensuring early detection, diagnosis and refrral to the right treatment centre. The message of United by Unique reflects the courage of every child with cancer and the collective responsibility we all share to raise funds and to support them.”, Said Ankush Wadera, MD and Partner Boston Consulting Group, a CanKids Awareness partner.
About CanKids:
Founded in 2004 by Poonam Bagai, herself a cancer survivor, CanKids KidsCan, the National Society for Change For Childhood Cancer in India partners with hospitals, medical professionals, and state governments to enable access and best standards of treatment, care and support across 60 cities and 22 states of India. Catering to childhood cancer patients from primarily underprivileged families, CanKids is present in 141 hospitals across India.
The CanKids Change for Childhood Cancer in India (CCC India) model is a transformative healthcare to ensure that no child suffers or dies of cancer for lack of access, care, or support, marrying a rights-based equity framework with measurable outcomes of survival and access. CCC India targets Universal Health Coverage through 100% access, 100% financial protection, and at least 60% survival by 2030.
Through their signature program YANA (You Are Not Alone) – CanKids provides accommodation through Home Away from Homes, drugs and diagnostics support, patient transport, blood support, nutrition and hygiene counselling, supplements, rations, education and counselling support. In order to enable Access To Care for those in need, CanKids also implements large-scale Change For Childhood Cancer projects at the state level in 16 states across India and have MOUs with 8 state governments as knowledge and technical partners for Childhood Cancer.
While all services are free, at the funding level, the organization while being fully compliant has raised Rs 55 crores, with 70%+ form CSR and other grants and through reach out to Indian HNIs and diaspora, while keeping Cost of Operations at 13-14%.
