St Paul's Carnival Gives Men A Future
One of Bristol’s top community events has joined the campaign to help reduce the number of men dying every year with prostate cancer.
St Paul’s Carnival, which takes place this year on 4 July, has adopted Run for the Future as one of its main charities.
More than 35,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year and more than 10,000 die – and studies show that men from an Afro-Caribbean background are three times more likely to get the disease.
Run for the Future, which is organised by Bristol Rotary and sponsored by Spire Hospital, is now in its fourth year. So far it has raised more than £130,000 for the Bristol Urological Institute Prostate Cancer Appeal and helped fund vital research into the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Martina Peattie, from Bristol Rotary, says Run for the Future wants to encourage men to have regular checks with their GPs once they reach the age of 50.
“At the moment there is no national screening programme available on the NHS so men have to elect for a PSA blood test,” she said. “The latest research shows that if men are checked regularly it could reduce the number who die from prostate cancer by more than half.”
A special poster is being produced to promote Run for the Future at the St Paul’s Carnival, featuring athletes from an Afro-Caribbean background.
Personal trainer, Tennis Russell, one of those who volunteered to be photographed, says men from an Afro Caribbean background are often too proud to ask their GP’s for a blood test.
“It’s a macho thing – we think we’re invincible, but we’re actually three times more at risk,” he says. “I’d like to see every man having a check up once they get to 50 and above. It’s just common sense.”
This year’s Run for the Future takes place on the Downs in Bristol on Sunday, 20 September. For further information visit www.runforthefuture.org or ring the Run for the Future Office on 0117 959 6328.
Picture shows (l-r):Judah Adunbi, Tennis Russell, Khan Miller, Angela Linton-Miller and James Woodburn.
