This is the astonishing tale of how the potentially calamitous cancellation of Univar’s Prostate Project Golf Day, turned from disaster to triumph, and raised more money, and goodwill than we could ever have hoped for.
We pay tribute to a company that has been supporting the Prostate Project for the last twelve years. Univar Solutions are the very definition of stalwart supporters, their entire team is involved in helping us to raise our profile, and let’s not be shy about saying it…raise funds.
Their annual charity golf day has raised more than £450,000 for us over the last dozen or so years, money that goes directly to supporting our research teams in their quest to find new, and improved treatments for men with advanced prostate cancer.
The driving force throughout has been Univar CEO, David Jukes with assistance from his remarkable team. I have no idea of the amount of lives that have been saved, or significantly improved by their hard work, but I hope that they are proud of their commitment to our cause.
This year, thanks to some appalling weather, the annual golf day was cancelled at the 11th hour, a blow to all concerned. But in typical Univar fashion, they found a ‘Solution’.
Here is the note sent to all participants by Nick Powell, President of Global Ingredients and Specialities at Univar
At the moment, there is no plan to reschedule the event in 2023. Instead, we are working with the team to reach a satisfactory resolution. Most importantly, we will ensure the charity is not disadvantaged by the decision, and Univar Solutions has committed to donating a sum equal to that raised at last year’s event. We do hope that you will join us in the support of the the Prostate Project, however we would like to offer yourself and your company the return of your kind donation / entry fee should you wish to do so which we of course fully understand.
What an astonishingly generous gesture.
But that’s not all. If that wasn’t enough wonderful news, Univar Solutions, in collaboration with the research teams at University of Surrey have arranged something called a ‘Wear a Blue Moustache Day’.
Organised by Hayley Lamper, Internal Communications Manager at Univar, the day involved a series of virtual presentations from Dr. Nicola Annels and Alf Turner, our Chair, updating everyone on the research that Univar is funding into detecting and treating an aggressive advanced form of prostate cancer. We also created a video walkthrough of the laboratories which we shared online, and can be seen here.
The ‘Blue Moustache’ idea was a great success, with everyone joining in the fun, images are available on the website, and I hope you agree that some of us look rather fetching?
We are immensely grateful to the entire Univar Solutions team
Here’s our very own PhD student, James Thetford supporting a real ‘tache grown in aid of November, alongside the Univar one.
