PURPOSE BUILT SCREENING BUS WILL PROVIDE BOOKED AND DROP IN PSA TESTS.
In their first major fundraising drive since joint funding the £6m Stokes Centre for Urology at Royal Surrey Hospital, the Prostate Project has launched a new appeal to raise funds for a PSA (prostate specific antigen) screening vehicle. Provisionally titled the PP Battle Bus Appeal, the initiative will become part of the charity’s successful Waging War on Prostate Cancer campaign that was spearheaded by General The Lord Richard Dannatt in 2019. Initially, £150,000 is needed to purchase and fit-out the vehicle.
Professor Stephen Langley, Professional Director of Cancer Services at Royal Surrey County Hospital and a trustee of the charity said:
‘In the past year there have been 3000 fewer referrals to secondary care hospitals for suspected prostate cancer in Surrey and Sussex. We have to find these men and this screening vehicle will make that task much easier’.
Prostate Project President Tim Sharp said:
‘The premise is simple – men are generally reticent to see their GP about a PSA test. The situation has been exacerbated by Covid to a very significant degree which has resulted in our 3000 lost men. And that is just in Surrey and Sussex. Nationally the figure must run into tens of thousands. The pandemic has created a ticking time-bomb of undetected cancers’
Our new Battle Bus is only a dream at the moment but so was the Urology Centre when we set out to raise £3m 10 years ago. Thanks to our incredible supporters we achieved that and I’m confident we will achieve our Battle Bus as well. Donors will be asked to buy funding tickets in various denominations.
Depending on the size of vehicle, Tim is hoping the appeal will reach it’s target within 18 months.
Read more in Get Surrey
And listen to Tim on BBC Radio Surrey (Go in 1:50 for Tim’s first slot and then to 2:20 for his second)
If you would like to support us with fundraising or are interested in corporate sponsorship, please contact us at info@prostate-project.org.uk or call 07724 465 883
