Hundreds of men line up at Telford venue for life-saving prostate cancer tests

Ironbridge Lions and Rotary Clubs again joined forces to provide a free prostate cancer screening session for men over 50, after over 420 men were screened at the 2017 event.

At this year's event on Monday, organisers said they expected to have more than 700 men come through the doors at The Anstice social club in Madeley, where they filled out forms, and took blood tests to be screened for prostate cancer.

The sessions have been organised in the light of new figures that show the number of men dying from prostate cancer has now overtaken the amount of women dying from breast cancer, making it the third biggest cancer killer in the UK.

John Marsh, who is part of the fundraising team for the Lions Club, said the number of people attending shows how vital the tests are.

He said: "It was an idea from other Lions Clubs, and with the national press coverage, and with it overtaking cancer as the third biggest cancer killer, it makes these events even more important.

"And it only takes a small amount of time to do, people fill in a form, we then check the form, and they have the blood test and away they go.

"Then around two weeks later each one will get a letter and it works like a traffic light system.

"If it is green, they are told nothing is wrong and to just come back next year.

"If it is amber, people are told there may be a problem, so go and get checked out, and if it is red, you need to go and see your GP immediately.

"This is the first step to come here and get tested, and more people are coming to do it."

One man who can preach the importance of getting screened is Harold Taylor.

The 75-year-old went last year after his wife Jacqueline saw the event advertised in the press.

However, when he was queuing, he rung his wife and said he was not going to wait, but she urged him to sit tight and after getting tested he was told he had an aggressive form of cancer.

After having an implant, hormone therapy, and 37 straight days of radiotherapy, Mr Taylor found out his prostate-specific antigen (PSA), had dropped from above 12, to 0.2.

Mr Taylor, who moved from Rochdale to Shropshire as a teenager, admitted that the test last year has saved his life.

Symptoms

He said: "I don't like queuing and rung my wife, and she said you're not coming home you're staying, and I did, and I found out I had cancer.

"It has saved my life, it really has, coming to a screening like this.

"That is why I want to keep telling people to come to get themselves screened. I didn't have any symptoms whatsoever and I had had cancer for six months prior to coming here.

"It really is important and can save your life."

Along with his wife, the pair are pushing for similar screening events to be funded by the NHS.

Around 40 volunteers and nurses dedicate their time to the event, however for the testing kits the organisations need to raise around £10,000.

Local businesses and generous donations have helped supply the kit this year and fundraising goes on all year round in aid of prostate cancer in Shropshire.

Graham Riley, vice chair of Shropshire Prostate Cancer Support Group, got involved with the group during his time as mayor of Wellington.

He, and dozens of other volunteers were at the event raising money towards prostate cancer in the county.

He said: "Money we raise this evening goes to the county hospital's for equipment, and to help events like these take place.

"There are mammograms and smear tests for women, but there is nothing to test men."

So many men turned up to be screened that the organisers even ran out of testing kits. A follow up session is now being arranged for the next four weeks.

"It's gone extremely well. We are the victim of our own success," said Colin Thompson, secretary of Ironbridge and Severn Gorge Lions.

"This year we had 700 test kits and still had to send about 25 people home as we had more than 700 men in the queue."