61 year old Barlanark man, George Evans, is
celebrating having received £100 worth of ASDA vouchers for simply
having visited a Prostate Cancer UK information stand in the East
End of the city.
The news came as Prostate Cancer UK hailed the success of its
pilot project which has offered men, their partners and families in
the East End first-step access to information on prostate cancer-
the most common cancer in men.
Supported by a Scottish Government grant, Prostate Cancer UK's
East End Project targeted men in the area by delivering prostate
cancer awareness and support networks direct into the very heart of
their community. All men who engaged with the project completed a
questionnaire about their knowledge of prostate cancer and entered
a prize draw to win £100 worth of ASDA vouchers.
Commenting on his voucher win George Evans said: "Getting the
chance to talk to people who have been directly affected by
prostate cancer has been brilliant. Despite prostate cancer being
the most common cancer in men, I didn't really know too much about
the disease, so Prostate Cancer UK's East End project has been
invaluable. Getting £100 worth of vouchers out of it wasn't bad
either!"
Prostate Cancer UK's stand was manned by
local men who have been directly affected by the disease, including
Sandyhills resident Tam Hewitt, who has successfully undergone
treatment for the disease having been diagnosed with it over six
years ago.
Tam said: "The project gave us the chance to help raise
awareness of prostate cancer and offer our experiences of prostate
cancer. My key advice to all men would be; if you notice any
new symptoms or any changes in habit, no matter how small, go to
your GP straight away. There is nothing to be gained by wishing
problems away or trying to sweep them under the carpet. Had I
chosen that approach, I probably wouldn't be here today. But,
fortunately, I didn't - and I am."
Ann Ferguson, Head of Scotland Operations for Prostate Cancer
UK, said: "We are thrilled with the success of the pilot project in
the East End of Glasgow and hope that, with additional support in
the future, we can roll out similar projects across Scotland.
Through our existing research, we are aware of a lack of
information and support for men from lower income groups. On
average, men from those backgrounds receive less information on
prostate cancer and less support to help them deal with the impact
of having cancer. Projects like this are the first step towards
putting things right, and we hope this will be the first of
many."
In addition to hosting information stands in the East End
Healthy Living Centre and the Easterhouse Shandwick Shopping
Centre, the project helped deliver two drop-in peer support
sessions held at health centres, offering men and their families
the chance to get together and share experiences, to obtain more
information and to be better informed about treatments. The project
also saw the distribution of high quality printed and electronic
information on prostate cancer to local community health services,
including health care partnerships, GPs and social care
providers.