The Gland of Brothers has been created by two former prostate cancer patients, Christopher Langham and Michael St Maur Sheil, who are seeking to raise awareness of of the problem and encourage men to undergo the simple test which enables early diagnosis and treatment.
Prostate cancer is an unheeded scourge amongst men with 1 in 8 getting the disease. This means that every year in the UK 52,000 men will be diagnosed and sadly 12,000 will die, largely because of ignorance and a failure to undergo a readily available blood test to enable early diagnosis.
In effect, this means that every male cricket, football and rugby team in the land is likely to have a member who will develop prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is easily treatable and it’s deadly impact is largely due to ignorance: surveys show that over 40% of men do not know where the prostate is and 74% don’t understand it’s purpose.
This simple lack of health awareness is costing lives so Chris and Mike have formed The Gland of Brothers which in 2024 will undertake to drive a Tuk-Tuk from the Shetland Isles to Lands End thus enabling them to deliver a series of talks to a variety of men’s groups en route.
This project is supported by two charities: Blue Ribbon Foundation which seeks to educate men about the need to adopt a healthy life style and not ignore the symptoms of disease whilst Prostate Cancer UK is the leading charity dedicated to the subject of this specific cancer.
Prevention is far easier and cheaper than cure so the aim is to encourage men to overcome their general reluctance to consider their health and seek medical advice before the disease has developed into a terminal stage, thus saving lives and reducing pressure on the NHS.
We are therefore asking for your support, both moral and financial, to enable us to promote greater awareness of this commonplace disease and thereby save lives.