The Prostate Project

4th November 2024 | Lieutenancy News

For 25 years, a Guildford based charity has been helping to establish and maintain Surrey’s position as a global leader in the research, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Based at The Stokes Centre for Urology at Royal Surrey County Hospital, the Prostate Project has collected over £11 million. It has contributed to treatments and raised awareness of a disease that kills over 12,000 men each year in the UK. Its most recent fundraising initiative has delivered a vehicle capable of saving and prolonging the lives of countless men, the ‘Man Van’, which was recently donated to the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust.

The ‘Man Van’, or more formally the Mobile PSA Blood Testing Clinic, will travel throughout Surrey and beyond, visiting hard to reach communities, sporting occasions, events, fairs, workplaces and music concerts, offering men the opportunity to take a PSA blood test. The specially equipped vehicle will be operated in conjunction with both the NHS and allied charities, with the Prostate Project helping with ongoing operating costs, and of course providing the van itself.

Somewhere in the region of £200,000 has been raised, and as Prostate Project Chairman Martin Davies explains, the arrival of the Man Van has coincided with a significant milestone for the charity.

‘’For us to deliver this life-saving vehicle in the year of our 25^th anniversary is a source of great pride to everyone at the Prostate Project.

When the charity was formed, it was the straightforward aim to improve the chance of men beating prostate cancer, and this mobile clinic will ensure that we continue to do so for years to come.’’

A familiar face to many men in and around Surrey, Stephen Langley, Professor of Urology at the Royal Surrey County Hospital has been one of the major driving forces behind this project and he is delighted that the vehicle is now on the road.

“This wonderful Man Van superbly complements our world-class Stokes Centre for Urology and will help us detect prostate cancer in men before it causes any symptoms. Our regional NHS targeted screening programme, working closely with local GP surgeries, has tested the PSA of 22,000 men over the past 12 months and shown the importance of early detection of prostate cancer at a stage when it is at its most curable.

I believe our Man Van will help improve both the awareness of prostate cancer and our ability to test for the disease and so improve men’s chance of beating it.”

More information about the Man Van, and all the work supported by the Prostate Project can be found by visiting:

www.prostate-project.org.uk