Friday 13 June 2003
Stars from the world of sport gathered on Friday 30th May at Chelsea FC for an exclusive evening to kick off the sixth annual Everyman Male Cancer Awareness Month.
The sporting celebrities were attending the black tie celebrity fundraising ball at Chelsea Village, part of Chelsea FC. Hosted by Everyman Patron and ex-Chelsea footballer Jason Cundy, the Everyman Ball was kindly sponsored by The Charities Trust, the second largest national Payroll Giving Agency and it was being held to raise awareness of, and vital research funds for, male cancers.
Having suffered from testicular cancer, Jason has now retired from professional football and coaches at Chelsea’s Youth Academy. He said: “June is Everyman Male Cancer Awareness Month and we wanted to launch with a big event that would make people sit up and take notice. The Everyman Campaign has been running for six years and although they’ve made great progress there is still a lot more to be done. The ball is a fantastic way to push male cancers to the front of people’s minds and we’ve been amazed and grateful at how many people have come out to support us”.
The guests enjoyed a champagne reception, 3 course dinner and dancing. The event was given the backing of the PFA and was attended by ex- Chelsea Footballers including Chelsea legend Clive Walker, model Ruth Higham, Chelsea CEO Trevor Birch, Derby County FC Manager George Burley and England Cricketer Alec Stewart. Those attending were also given the opportunity to bid for a free haircut from Trevor Sorbie, a signed football from Sven Goran Erickson, tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix and much, much more!
The Everyman Campaign is The Institute of Cancer Research’s Campaign to raise awareness and funding for research into testicular and prostate cancer. Launched in 1997 it has gone from strength to strength and this June sees a number of high profile activities taking place including: Cosmopolitan Naked Centrefolds, the launch of a new advertising campaign, the sale of four exclusively designed male cancer awareness t-shirts in Topman, The Big Shave and the fourth Go Sports Mad Day.
The facts about male cancers speak for themselves:
· Approx. 25,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year and this figure is on the increase. Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in men, overtaking lung cancer.
· Testicular cancer is the most common cancer amongst young men aged between 15-35.
· Research conducted by Everyman shows that men are still reluctant to discuss health concerns even with their doctor. In a recent Everyman survey, results showed that embarrassment is preventing over 1/4 of men under 25 from seeing their GPs
Philip Black, Fundraising Director of The Institute said: “This is the first time we have ever launched Everyman Month with a Ball and we’ve been delighted with the response. If we are going to win the fight against male cancers then Everyman Month must keep up its momentum so that all men and women are aware of the signs and symptoms of these dreadful diseases and actively support fundraising in this area.”
All money raised by the Everyman Ball will go towards supporting Europe’s only dedicated male cancer research centre that was recently set up by The Institute.
For more information please contact the Everyman Press Office on
0207 970 6030 or the Everyman Fundraising Hotline on 0800 731 9468.
- Notes to the editor:
- The Institute of Cancer Research is a centre of excellence with some of the world’s leading scientists working on cutting edge research
- The Institute works in a unique partnership with The Royal Marsden Hospital, which enables scientific discoveries to be translated quickly into patient care
- The Institute was made a centre of excellence for prostate cancer research by the National Cancer Research Institute
- The Institute is a charity that relies on voluntary income
- The Charities Trust is a registered charity and is part of Littlewoods PLC. The trust helps employees of Littlewoods and numerous other businesses to make tax effective donations via their payroll each month to their favourite charities.