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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser.

27 August 2009

Dover, for pretty obvious reasons, has always been a popular staging point for people intent on swimming, walking, jogging or cycling to the continent and to places further a field and on Tuesday I was at Eastern Docks to meet up with the latest team of adventurers.

Jonathan Williams from Dover is leading a ten strong group of novice cyclists on a mammoth 700 mile journey which started in London and ends seven days later in the village of Samoens, high up in the French Alps.

This is a pretty gruelling challenge for Jonathan and the team, who have very little experience of long distance cycling but they’ve been motivated by the wish to raise funds for two important charities – a children’s hospice and the Orchid Cancer Appeal.

The charity group, Orchid exists to save men's lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers through pioneering research and promoting awareness. There are any number of well known charities and popular lobbies like the breakthrough breast cancer campaign (which I’m pleased to support in the constituency and in Westminster) but male specific cancers have tended to be ignored until recently.

A staggering 37,000 men will be diagnosed with one of these male-specific cancers in 2009 but there is surprisingly little known about the causes of these potential killer diseases and men – even the victims – are reluctant to discuss the ailment.

Incidence of male-specific cancers is still growing yet still too little is known about them; their causes, treatments and most important how to recognise the early signs. As with most cancers, male-specific cancers are easier to treat if diagnosed early and an important part of Orchid’s message is - men should not die because of ignorance or embarrassment.

That’s one of the reasons Orchid was formed – to raise awareness of these cancers but also to help fund research, the development of better means of diagnosis and improving treatments. Orchid funded research teams are starting to produce exciting results, which have been presented in national and international forums and publications. Their work has resulted in better treatment as well as offering significant potential for improving survival and quality of life for male cancer patients.

The Prostrate Cancer Support Association (PSA) is another important group with local branches across the South East and our PSA is organised by my old friend, Graham Edwards from Deal who is a retired House of Commons official. The group provides much needed support to men with prostate cancer and raises funds to enhance the services provided by the NHS.

I became interested in these matters when another old friend and former MP, John Grant from Kingsdown died from the disease nearly ten years ago. I joined the All Party Parliamentary Group, wrote articles on the issue and successfully lobbied Ministers for more funding – but there’s lots more to do.

The young cyclists I greeted are certainly doing their bit. With 700 miles to complete in 7 days they’d already raised over £20,000 as they passed through Dover and they deserve our applause.