Fighting Prostate Cancer
Who We Are
The Prostate Project is a Registered Charity established in 1998.
We pride ourselves on being run almost entirely by volunteers and on keeping administration costs at 5%. Based in Guildford, we support the Royal Surrey County Hospital, St Luke’s Cancer Centre, Frimley Park Hospital and the Oncology Research Group at the University of Surrey.
Our involvement, support and fundraising have been significant factors in the Royal Surrey County Hospital being widely recognised as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in the treatment and diagnosis of the disease. The medical team at the four locations (some of whom are Trustees) are intimately involved with the Charity and work closely with their non-medical colleagues. We want to maintain the contribution we make and keep spreading the word about the value of early diagnosis as a key to improved cure rates. All our work has one ultimate goal – to bring direct benefits to prostate cancer sufferers and their families.
Why are we different to other charities
We focus directly on our excellent regional hospitals. We are linked to a key Health University which has a 5 star rating and have funded the creation of a dedicated research team at the University of Surrey. We bring together inputs from patients, medical experts and researchers in deciding on our priorities and on how to increase the impact of our work and funding on outcomes for patients, for example securing shorter lead times for diagnosis and treatment.
In the past 25 years we have raised over £8 million and helped the Royal Surrey County Hospital achieve ‘Centre of Excellence’ status in the treatment of prostate cancer. We support the Royal Surrey County Hospital, St Luke’s Cancer Centre and Frimley Park Hospital in their efforts to detect and treat prostate cancer. We have provided equipment, specialist nursing staff and run an active patient support group.
The Prostate Project also funds the scientists working at the University of Surrey, supporting their work developing innovative immunotherapy treatments and drugs for men with advanced (metastatic) prostate cancer.
In 2011, the Royal Surrey County Hospital asked us if we could raise £1.3m towards a new landmark Urology Centre. In 2013 they increased that figure to £2m. Thanks to the incredible support, we exceeded that amount and are now equal funding partners with the hospital having raised almost £3m.
This is one of the most significant investments in Urological services in the UK for over a decade, helping to establish the Royal Surrey internationally as a leading prostate cancer centre of excellence, capable of treating more men with early disease than any other unit in the UK.
Our research initiative, launched in 2006 at the University of Surrey, has grown to become the largest charity-funded prostate cancer research group in the UK. Currently 25 strong, the Prostate Project research team are producing results of international importance including the development of antibodies against targets on the surface of prostate cancers, the development of vaccines from the patient’s own immune cells, and the impact of tumour microbiomes on the differences in outcomes for black men. They are currently investigating new techniques to identify and treat advanced prostate cancer using immunotherapy. Currently three quarters of men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer die within five years.
2023 will see the launch of our most ambitious effort since the Centre opened with the introduction of the ‘Man Van’, a mobile PSA blood testing clinic providing easy access to testing for men across the region. The PSA test is a simple blood test to help detect prostate cancer.
The stark fact is that prostate cancer claims a life every 45 minutes, that’s 12,000 UK men a year, but hope is provided by increasing the awareness of men over the age of 50 that with early diagnosis, prostate cancer is one of the most treatable cancers and this latest initiative will help to ensure even more positive outcomes for men in and around Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.
The Prostate Project is on a mission to let every son, dad, uncle, brother, grandad and husband know that they need to get tested.
Our Principal Aims & Objectives – Fighting Prostate Cancer
• To raise awareness, particularly amongst men, of the existence of prostate cancer, its symptoms and its potential adverse effect
• To encourage wider recognition of the symptoms of the disease and swifter action in seeking GP’s advice
• To fund state of the art equipment and specialist staff to support Urologists in achieving early diagnosis and rapid treatment
• To push forward the boundaries of knowledge about prostate cancer by initiating a world class programme of research
• Having co-funded the building of a world-class model NHS Stokes Centre for Urology at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, to ensure the Centre attracts high calibre specialists and technicians and has the most advanced equipment, and to improve access to the PSA blood test via the innovative ManVan.
Meet Our Ambassadors
Colin Stokes established the Prostate Project in 1998 with his consultant urological surgeon, Mr John Davies, after Colin was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 58. With his background working at Unilever and running his own consultancy company, Colin worked tirelessly as a volunteer Chairman for 21 years, overseeing the establishment of the oncology research team at the University of Surrey and building the Stokes Centre for Urology at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. Having retired as Chair in 2020, Colin continues to support the charity through his role as Ambassador, reaching out to the local community through talks, presentations and interviews. Colin was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Surrey and an MBE for services to cancer patients.
Tim Sharp is one of the founding trustees of the Prostate Project. He is married with 3 children and has lived locally for almost 50 years. A lifelong career in advertising has equipped him to handle all of the charity’s publicity and PR from day one. He conceived and ran all the appeals that have helped raise over £10m since 1998. He relinquished his active publicity role in March 2020 but remains the charity’s President. His wife Valerie, has been a volunteer for Save the Children for over 30 years.
One of his daughters is the actress Victoria Hamilton who played the Queen Mother in the Netflix Series 1 production of ‘The Crown’. She is a patron of the Prostate Project.
Meet Our Trustees
I have lived in Guildford since 1997. I was born in 1954 in Stockport, Cheshire, was educated at a local county grammar school, and then read PPE at Oxford University. My work career, from 1976 to 2014, was in international financial markets both directly (1976 – 1997) and as a service provider in executive search (1998 – 2014). I am married to a retired Professor of Nursing and have one son with his own family who all live overseas.
After my own prostate cancer experience in 2021 and loss of a friend to the disease in early 2023, I decided to volunteer for The Prostate Project to raise awareness among men of all backgrounds in testing for the disease and to contribute to the work of the NHS at RSCH Guildford, which has so expertly treated me. My personal experience of prostate cancer in 2021 has given me insight into the remarkable strides being taken in the research, diagnosis, and treatment of this dreadful disease, much of which has been pioneered at The Stokes Centre for Urology.
I was elected Charities Governor at the Royal Surrey in May 2023 at RSCH.
I read extensively, both fiction and history, walk and cycle as weather permits, like to visit my overseas family, and am an active member of The County Club, Guildford.
Andrew Bolton (Treasurer)
Anthony Wootton
Mike Collins
Chris Critchlow
Alex Boden
Stuart McGuire
Meet Our Patrons
Meet Our Team
Katherine Hammersley supports the Prostate Project as the charity secretary, alongside looking after volunteers, fundraising and events and managing the website and social media. She gave vital support to Tim Sharp’s fundraising appeals for building the Stokes Centre for Urology and OctoBeardFest. Katherine lives in Guildford and is also a community governor at a local Guildford primary school.
Why do great businesses help charities?
Because it’s the right thing to do.
We all know about Corporate Social Responsibility, some larger businesses even have dedicated CSR managers and as a charity we are of course delighted that companies take the matter of supporting good causes so seriously.
But what was there before Corporate Social Responsibility?
Well, there was certainly a lot of good work being done, it just didn’t have a name…it was just great companies and organisations doing their bit because it was ‘the right thing to do’. It might have been fundraising for a concern close to the heart of the business, a special cause to support or an initiative prompted by a specific appeal.
Great businesses do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.
Of course, there are still examples of what we might describe as ‘corporate largesse’, and boy are we grateful for it, but there are also relationships that develop through an understanding of the quid pro quo involved in a professional arrangement.
As you can imagine, we have stacks of literature and leaflets to help raise awareness about prostate cancer. We also have presentations available, which we can either deliver ourselves directly to your colleagues or give you the information to deliver yourselves. We can attend company wellness days to answer any questions about the disease, and share information about the cancer research we help fund. And when our ManVan (mobile PSA testing unit) is on the road, we hope we can come to your workplace to carry out blood tests to help detect prostate cancer.
Raising awareness and educating men (and their partners) about prostate cancer is vital. Early prostate cancer is usually symptomless, so knowing the risks and empowering men to get diagnosed early is key, because caught early, prostate cancer is usually curable.
If you would like to learn more about how your business can work with the Prostate Project, please contact us: info@prostate-project.org.uk
Trusted Partners
We collaborate with local and national businesses, the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Frimley Park Hospital and University of Surrey to give every man a better chance of beating prostate cancer.
