Well aware - the March Accounts!

Pleased as Punch with Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Challenge. I cracked it, finding something everyday throughout March to raise awareness. So here are the accounts -

16 bags of rubbish collected

20 posters given out

132 leaflets distributed

1 brochure

Income £55.05

Donations £75.61 all heading for Prostate Cancer UK

Jeff Stelling was doing his own Awareness project, the Men United March and I chose to send £20 of our donation to Prostate Cancer UK  through this excellent, high profile event. I divided the money between Jeff’s own collection and that of another participant, Derek McNair. He wanted to get involved after his own diagnosis and subsequent surgery. We totally understand the urge, it’s such a positive reaction to facing this threat. Getting out there, spreading the word and using personal experience to do so is such a powerful combinaton. Hopefully, your treatment has done the trick.

Thanks to all those who so readily responded to my efforts. I’m not mentioning names because I asked and every single person said yes while others quite spontaneously stepped forward. It was a super experience for me and I’m just hoping we may have improved someone’s future.

If only I'd got my act together by ordering more posters in time! Hey there's always April.

Mark Keanely remembered

Difficult to contain my emotions today as both Bernard and Barbara went out of their way to show their support for the cause. I met them while out on Catherine's Lane collecting 2 bags. Bernard was so enthusiastic in his support and took a leaflet for himself as well as one for a friend. He has got rather disheartened by his own attempts to keep the roadsides around his house clear of rubbish which is perfectly understandable given it is a never ending job. Today provided more examples of the random items people leave behind, this bottle of Pandora's Box perfume was almost full. Bernard was sorry not to have a donation to hand but very quickly acted on his generous impulse, returning a short time later, with a donation of £10. Thank you Bernard, as usually I have already sent it off to Prostate Cancer UK combined with the £5.05 already in the pot. With giftaid the total came to £18.81. It seemed appropriate to continue our practise of using donations to remember men who have lost their fight with Prostate Cancer and today we marked the passing of Mark Kenealy who was so active in the Prostate Cancer UK Forum before his death. 

I never met Mark but he played such a massive part in keeping me sane while we were going through it. He was diagnosed too late for successful treatment but through the Forum gave support to so many. His calm, intelligent and perceptive responses to posts are memorable. He understood what a diagnosis meant and the traumas of living with it for both sufferer and their family.  Known as Spurspark, he wrote a truly eloquent piece called The Rocky Road which described his path through Prostate Cancer. I took a copy and would like to post it, however, I haven't been able to contact his family and so don't feel it would be appropriate without their permission. Sadly Mark died in 2012, when he was only 52. He is remembered by many for his valuable contributions made all the more notable as he was coping with his own difficult battle.

Barbara deserves her own special mention - so I'll save it until next time, watch out for it.

Prostate progress - smells so good

The challenge of doing something every day during March to raise awareness is still going strong. Bit of a panic on Wednesday because we had commitments all day so I created the penalty for failing, a £5 donation to Prostate Cancer UK. Stupidly, it took a few minutes for me to realise, by making the donation, I was actually fulfilling the challenge for that day. Cancer Research confirmed this when I went into the local charity shop this morning.

“Every step forward relies on every pound, every hour and every person.”

This was the  message I found on the back of the 2 birthday cards I bought . So concise yet so powerful and inspiring. It doesn’t matter if you are a scientist researching the disease, a doctor, a specialist nurse, a sufferer, a family member or simply someone who is sending a card, we all have the means to make a difference if we look for the opportunities.

We are making steps forward. Diagnosis has been a concern but refinements are in the pipeline. At the moment the PSA blood test is the easiest and most readily available diagnostic tool but it is flawed and even the subsequent biopsy may fail to pick up on positive readings. The biopsy is invasive which too often means men are not willing to be checked. Now there is evidence that the cancer can be detected by smell. Medical detection dogs have a remarkable success rate in detecting a number of cancers including prostate. This has inspired the scientists to investigate and in February a team of UK scientists announced early tests had shown soon it may be possible to diagnose urological cancers by changes in the smell of urine samples using an odoreader. There is still work to be done but the feeling is men will be more willing to volunteer for this form of test.

I looked into medical detection dogs and found an excellent website full of information and examples of their work. Take a look here:-  

https://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/

I do understand how smell can be so effective in diagnosing a disease. I’m diabetic and when blood sugars rise through illness of before the disease has been detected, the breath of the sufferer can smell “sweet”, a bit like peardrops. Also urine can smell different.

So we go back to that potent message, to move forward we can all contribute in time, in money, in taking part, in supporting our neighbours and friends and especially in giving all those who work so hard the opportunity to save lives. Have the courage to take the test or volunteer for a trial.

Lovania Nurseries steps up to the pump.

Huge thanks to award winning Lovania Nurseries for being so enthusiastic in their willingness to help build Prostate Cancer awareness. I headed up to their HQ at Tarleton this afternoon purely on speck knowing they were one of the largest employers in West Lancashire and hoping to leave a couple of posters. In fact they took my entire stock, 14 posters, to display across their many growing and business sites. They also took 30 Know your Prostate quick guides to pass around their team. Having visited their website I already had the impression Lovania cared, now I’ve actually been there and received such an overwhelming response I have no doubt.

Lovania Nurseries is a locally based family business growing, developing and supplying alpines, bulbs and perennials to the trade. They are a major player with customers including large retailers, including Aldi, as well as garden centres like Dobbies and smaller outlets. So if you were interested in recreating a corner of the Tyrol in your garden, you wouldn’t be able to drop in to Lovania’s own premises to pick up your bulbs but chances are you will have bought their products elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are a retailer, selling plants, it would be well worth your while taking a look at their catalogue which can be downloaded from their website www.lovania.co.uk/. Importantly, you would be able to make a point of offering plants grown in the UK which is always a good thing.

The March Prostate Cancer Awareness challenge is inspiring me to overcome my reservations and trepidations and simply get out there. Who knew it would open so many opportunities to explore our community and to meet so many super people? We’re half way through and so far I have successfully come up with at least one idea to spread the message for every single day of March. Thrilled.

Prostate Cancer - we can beat it together

Glorious sunshine this pm as I finished collecting on Heskin Lane. Delighted to meet Robert who came out to introduce himself. He is involved in the local branch of Home Instead and wanted to take a photo of this woman at work. Robert was very generous in his praise for the Clean up project and will be including a link to the Clean up Prostate Cancer facebook page. He accepted a leaflet and I will be dropping off posters for him to display in the office. Thank you for your support, Robert, it is particularly important because your work brings you in contact with older men. As we know incidence of Prostate Cancer increases with age, the time when trouble with men’s waterworks is often assumed to part of the process getting on in years. A dangerous assumption, changes in the way a man pees is one of the early signs of this disease.

Today I jam packed my third bag on this stretch of road now awaiting collection by the wonderful WLDC crew. Contents include one or two curiosities like a handsome torch and the featured 7 half pint cartons of milk which may well have fallen off the back of a lorry last December. (Use by date 19th December I didn’t open any, from past experience I know the smell lingers forever. The neatly tied bag of rubbish pictured on the left is the inspiration for my small rant of the day. Why did it end up in the hedgerow? You’ve gone to the trouble of putting it all in a carrier bag, the bag is clean, nothing is leaking, take it home and put it in the bin. The bag alone could easily have been used to line a waste bin. It cost 5p so why not get your money’s worth. Rant over.

Speaking of 5p's, I found one today and have put it in the empty Prostate Cancer UK pot. I made the latest donation of £11.80 yesterday and chose to remember our neighbour and friend, Harold Jeffrey who was so gallant as Prostate Cancer spread through his body. Always dignified, always ready with his gentle smile, suffering in silence, a good man, sadly missed. To make sure others are made aware and do not have to deal with this fate, I keep handing out those leaflets and including the collection on Friday I've dished out 7 this weekend. Pleased as punch! Working together, stepping forward as Robert did today, we can beat Prostate Cancer.

Prostate Cancer awareness - is your employer getting involved?

What a sociable crowd I met on Heskin Lane, Ormskirk yesterday as I collected 2 bags and gave out 3 Know your Prostate Quick Guides. I must make special mention of Chris who popped out to offer me a drink. As a member of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service he is fully up to speed on Prostate Cancer. This is the kind of employer we need in the campaign to spread the message. With posters displayed in the workplace, Chris already had his leaflet and showed my his Man of Men badge. All this is essential but even more importantly, Chris had clearly taken advantage and made himself familiar with the disease. I was struck by his enthusiasm, good man. I have huge admiration for those who put themself at risk for our safety. Not forgetting to mention his Mum who does her own volunteer rubbish collections on Holborn Hill.

I was also pleased to see Roger, longtime friend of the page, who had just been covering a story about the outrageous amount of flytipping on Blackacre Lane since it was closed. You can follow the story at qlocal/Ormskirk.

Couldn’t help hearing a medley of that Hot Chocolate classic merging with You can leave your hat on in my thoughts. Could it be the cast of a drama society had been rehearsing The Full Monty locally? Underpants, trousers...mobile.Spring is definitely here, catkins, daffodils, snowdrops, trees budding. I don't know about you but I find all these signs of life really uplifting. Get out there and enjoy it. 

Doing my bit for the Queen

Clean for the Queen stirred the nation this weekend and I wasn’t going to be left out. With 3 events scheduled in West Lancashire I opted to head over to Beacon Country Park on Sunday morning. It’s a fabulous spot with stunning views, a lovely spot for the kids to let off steam. Unfortunately, the clash with Mothering Sunday probably affected attendence. I could only have stayed an hour that morning so after a chat with a very nice ranger who offered me an armful of Clean for the Queen bags and accepted a Know your Prostate leaflet I headed home.

With verges I worked on yesterday afternoon and again today I filled 3 more bags for the Queen. So that I have now covered both sides of Northway from the county border to Winifred Lane. I’ll have to start looking for a new spot. (Dare I say yippee!). One of the  high spots actually happened today when I met Tony. Offering him a leaflet I learned he had no need of the information, Tony has already faced the experience of Testicular Cancer and I was privileged to learn a little about it. Good man. Not everyone is ready or able to talk about life threatening  illnesses. It is a shame because by speaking among friends and colleagues you are sharing essential information. People listen to face to face stories far more than they take notice of campaign publicity. Thanks Tony for taking a leaflet to pass on to someone who needs it.