| Hello! |
| Hello everyone It’s been a busy and inspiring month for Tackle Prostate Cancer. Across our network we’ve seen groups embracing new ideas, welcoming fresh faces, and stepping up to campaign for better awareness and earlier diagnosis. Our collective energy really does make a difference, and it’s been wonderful to see that in action. New Groups and Movember Update A warm welcome to our newest support groups who have joined the Tackle family this month. From Yeovil to Stafford and beyond, it’s great to have you on board. Adam and Stuart have been working hard to help groups in the North and Midlands get off the ground, bringing our peer support offer to more individuals than ever. Spotlight on Action: Tony’s Story & Proactive for your Prostate. One of our Trustees, Tony, recently used the Proactive for your Prostate Ambassador tools to write to his MP and secured a meeting where he made a strong case for national prostate cancer screening. His MP agreed to every ask, and even offered to write to the National Screening Committee. You can read Tony’s full blog below and see exactly how he did it. PCR’s ready-made resources make it easy to follow in his footsteps. The time is now, the National Screening Committee meets soon to decide on screening. Please take action today:Sign up as a Proactive AmbassadorUse the letter templates to contact your MPShare your personal story and ask for their supportWe look forward to seeing you at the next Support Group Leaders meeting on September 2nd, and until then enjoy the last few weeks of Summer sunshine. As always our small and mighty team are here to help and support you. Please do get in touch with any suggestions, comments or questions.We love to hear from you. Sarah and the Tackle Team |
| Hot Topics |
 We develop these Hot Topics as a way to keep you and your group members in touch with recent research, campaigns and other bits of useful news and information from the Prostate Cancer community. Please share the slides by downloading the link below.A few items of note to have on your radar this month:The Telegraph – Campaign for screeningGlobal round-up on prostate cancer advocacyMen’s Sheds and Prostate Cancer – new partnership ideasUpcoming national and specialist online support group meetings:National Dodgy Walnut (Working Aged People) – 27th August Partners Support Group – 15 Sept, 28 Oct, 15 DecProstate Brachytherapy Group – 11 SeptLiving Well with Advanced Prostate Cancer – 25 Aug, 29 Sept, 27 Oct, 24 Nov, 29 DecFor more details on the above and more see full Hot Topics link below |
| “How I Made My MP Listen & How You Can Too”- Tony Collier |
 Since my stage 4 diagnosis I have campaigned relentlessly for a screening programme to make sure as few men end up like me as possible. Above is a photograph of Aidan and I last year at Westminster. At our Tackle conference in April, I was therefore delighted to hear David James of Prostate Cancer Research talk about their #proactiveforyourprostate screening campaign. I signed up as an ambassador immediately. PCR provide an array of templates for ambassadors to use to build the campaign, one of them being a letter to MP’s requesting a meeting to discuss the campaign. I wrote to my MP immediately and finally got to meet her on 5th August. Importantly, I prepared very carefully beforehand because you are only allowed 15 minutes and I wanted to get a strong message across, and that was easy with all the information provided by the campaign tools. PCR provide a briefing document to leave with your MP and you can use that as content for your meeting. Our ask of MP’s is to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Prostate Cancer, raise screening in written and oral questions in Parliament, meet with PCR and publicly support the campaign. I told her my personal story and why I’m so passionate about screening. I’m grateful that she agreed to everything I asked and even suggested setting up a meeting with the Integrated Care Board for the region so we could discuss screening and GP reluctance to test men. She even offered to write to the National Screening committee on our behalf.Stand with me, join the campaign, speak up, and get our politicians on side. Sign up today as a Proactive Ambassador using the link below and let’s win this together. |
| Spotlight on our August Support Group Leaders Meeting |
 Last week we held our second session on Sharing Responsibility. This time we focused on how finding the right people can bring fresh energy and new perspectives to support groups. We focused on three main groups: those recently diagnosed, working aged men and partners. Thank you to all those who joined us and shared their experiences. There were some really valuable and insightful conversations focused on the challenges and considerations when engaging with these groups, as well as some potential solutions. We are currently working on new guides and resources to reflect these conversations and draw on the experience of our network, however, there are already a few documents on the Members Portal ( access via the link at the bottom of this briefing) which can provide useful tips. Tips for Welcoming New People to a Prostate Cancer Support Group. Promoting your group to get new members. A further question was surrounding managing Mailing Lists; we will update our current Data Protection Guidance to include help on this issue soon. In the meantime, you can find our current guide Data Protection FAQs on the portal Once the new documents are uploaded we shall let you know, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. |
| September 2nd- Support Group Leaders Meeting |
 At our September Support Group Leaders Meeting, we’ll be joined by Susannah from Prostate Cancer Research to talk about The Infopool, a brilliant online resource full of clear, trusted information for anyone affected by prostate cancer. From understanding treatment options to managing side effects and finding practical help, it’s a fantastic tool to share with your members. I’d really encourage you to come along, see what it offers, and take away ideas you can use straight away in your group. The meeting will take place from 11.00am-12.30pm on September 2nd, via Zoom. All Support Group Leaders and organisers are invited and encouraged to come along |
