We are fortunate enough to be invited to a great many wonderful venues and events to offer PSA Blood Testing, all of which are co-ordinated by our trustee Mike Collins.
Mike books the phlebotomists, liaises with the venue management, arranges the secure courier collection of blood samples, and makes sure that everything and everyone is in place. He even drives the Man Van, our mobile Prostate Cancer Blood Testing Clinic.
While no two testing events are the same in terms of venue and the numbers of men getting tested, many of the arrangements and systems are identical.
Here’s the story of a recent testing event, and the circumstances that led to it.
Our hosts for the day were Leatherhead FC, at their wonderful Fetcham Grove Stadium. Club Chairman John Dean was on hand to welcome Mike and the PP team, even taking the time later in the day to take a PSA test himself.
The day was arranged as part of a wider Leatherhead FC programme that sees the club take an active part in the health and wellbeing of the local community. This initiative includes events like the regular Monday Morning Club which offers homeless people the chance to chat and engage with support workers while enjoying something to eat and plenty of great company.
So highly regarded is the community programme at Leatherhead FC, that they received the 2026 Community Impact Award in the recent Best of Non-League National Awards.
In the three years since John took over the club, match day attendances have more than doubled, and engagement with the local community has increased dramatically, as could easily be seen by the amount and variety of pitch side hoardings featuring local businesses. As John himself put it, ‘Our club is part of the community, we use local suppliers and our loyal fans have stuck with us all the way, we are Leatherhead through and through’.
At this point we would like to congratulate John, his Vice Chairman David, all the management and players of Leatherhead FC on winning the Isthmian League South Central Division and their promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division.
Well played The Tanners!
One of the people that we met on the day was Richard ‘Big Unit’ Dixon, the man who both literally and figuratively could be described as the founder of the feast.
It was Richard and his friends that raised the funds to provide free tests with money being collected at a dinner event which featured a silent auction. Richard, former ‘caterer to the stars’ even supplied the venue and did the cooking himself for the black tie occasion which was attended by yes, you guessed it, Mr Man Van, Mike Collins.
Richard has raised over £18,000 for good causes in recent years, he truly is a local hero.
And finally, we would like to thank everyone at the club for their wonderful hospitality (and delicious cakes), we tested almost 100 men and spoke with many more about prostate cancer and the need to Get Tested.
Leatherhead FC deserve every bit of success that they continue to achieve on, and off the pitch. We are proud to call them friends of our charity.
