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"My father died of prostate cancer. He was 68. He was a doctor. He had a prostate problem for a number of years. He would have known it might be prostate cancer. He did nothing about it. When he finally acted, it was too late. He was given a terminal diagnosis - 3 years. He died within a year. A needless death? Possibly. Maybe he would have died of prostate cancer anyway. But had he acted early when he had his first symptoms, he would have had a very good chance of surviving". Rupert Ticehurst - partner MTG

In the UK 1 in 8 men* will develop prostate cancer. Black men are particularly susceptible: 1 in 4 black men will develop the cancer. It is the most common male cancer and kills a man in the UK every 45 seconds. Thankfully, it is not a young man's disease - the risk of developing prostate cancer becomes higher in men over 50.

We have two men at MTG over 50 - our staff are predominantly female and young. So why have we chosen Prostate Cancer UK as our charity of the year? Prostate cancer only kills men, but those men may be fathers, brothers or husbands: the impact of their death will be felt by men and women alike, young and old. So we have chosen to support Prostate Cancer to help raise awareness of the disease, to help create a culture of openness about a disease which men find so difficult to discuss that they would rather do nothing and hope for the best** than seek medical help. if we manage to raise some monies on the way then all the better.

*I have used "men" as shorthand for "people with prostates". Some people who are not men or do not define themselves as male have prostates and they can therefore also develop prostate cancer.

**There are a number of very effective treatments for prostate cancer - doing nothing and hoping for the best is not one of them.