We have been given the best possible start to our latest fundraising initiative ‘Get on Board’ appeal for a Mobile PSA Testing Clinic.
Two spectacular nights of music at G Live in Guildford from ‘Paul Jones & Friends’, hosted by blues legend Paul Jones, featuring Van Morrison, Paul Carrack and Kiki Dee among others, raised around £60,000 from ticket sales and a further £5,000 from bucket collections at the events.
We cannot thank Paul Jones and his friends enough for all their help. The nights were organised by Tony Smith of Eclectic Live Music, a stalwart supporter of the Prostate Project and together with money donated by our supporters we are, unbelievably, almost halfway to our target to get our Mobile PSA Testing Clinic on the road!
We’re confident that with a little more help, we will have the bus on the road later this year, possibly as soon as summer.
Based at the Stokes Centre for Urology at the Royal Surrey Hospital, a facility that they helped to fund the Prostate Project are raising £200,000 to purchase, equip and operate a Mobile Cancer Testing Clinic that will serve Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.
The clinic, or ‘Bus’ as it is affectionately known will visit different locations across the area, offering men over the age of 50 access to a simple blood test that helps to detect prostate cancer. Operated by the NHS, and with the support of the Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance, the bus will also be ‘on the road’ at evenings and weekends, providing free tests and helping to raise awareness of the disease which kills more men in the UK than any other cancer.
Our Chairman, Alf Turner explains the urgent need to get more men tested.
‘There is a general lack of awareness of the PSA blood test, it is a quick and very simple way of detecting prostate cancer, a disease that can usually be treated highly effectively, particularly with early diagnosis.
The pandemic has meant that around 3,000 men in our area that would have seen their GP for a test have been ‘lost’ and we desperately need to get them tested. The mobile clinic will allow us to visit men where they congregate, at places like sporting events social settings, places of worship, shopping centres and golf clubs’.
To donate to the ‘Get on Board’ appeal, please visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/buyaticket
