Welcome to our Monthly Briefing for May 2024. You are receiving this as you are listed as a Support Group Leader or organiser of one of our member groups. The information within this briefing is designed to inform you and support you in your role. It also contains our monthly Hot Topics slides, which is information that we would kindly ask that you forward to your group members. 

It’s been another busy month for us all here at Tackle Central Support. We have been out and about and, in the past month, have visited groups in Preston, Worcestershire and Purley. You can see some photos and read about some of their activity below.

We are proud to announce that we have been successful in our funding application to the National Lottery. You can read more about this exciting news here on our website. This is a huge achievement for a small charity and means we shall be able to reach even more people living with and impacted by Prostate Cancer. 

At this month’s Support Group Leaders meeting, we discussed some essential GDPR basics. The slides and more support on keeping data safe can be found on our Members Portal. hank you to everyone for their contributions, and in particular Lance Allen and John Keane, who advised on our GDPR fact sheet. If you would like to support our central team with any best practise ideas, please do get in touch.

With our AGM coming up on June 17th, we are keen to receive nominations and applications from group members interested in joining the Tackle Trustees Board – we have two vacant trustee positions. The process is described in the Hot Topics and you can find out more here.

As a charity, we wish to have a board of trustees that is representative of the population it serves—those affected by prostate cancer. We believe that a diverse board, in the widest sense of the word, is important as it creates more balanced decision-making.

Advertising openly and widely about our open positions will give us the best chance of finding the trustees we need. We will look hard at any barriers for potential trustees and remove any barriers we find to be unnecessary that are unintentionally limiting who can apply to be a trustee.

So, please do what you can to promote this opportunity.

If you have any questions about anything in this briefing, please do get in touch with us.

Please forward these slides to your Group Members.

Download this month’s Hot Topics here.

At our next Support Group Leaders meeting on 4th June at 11:00 a.m., we are pleased to announce that we shall be having a Q&A on the forthcoming TRANSFORM trial. This meeting is open to all those in an organizing role, and we encourage you to attend to find out about this exciting new trial. 

Prostate Cancer UK is launching a £42 million research programme – the TRANSFORM trial – to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer, so one day all men at risk are invited for regular tests to find aggressive cancers in time for a cure.

It will be the biggest trial in prostate cancer screening for 20 years and has been developed in consultation with and with the backing of the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the UK Government, which have committed to contributing £16 million. The study is also being supported by founding partners Movember and the Freddie Green and Family Charitable Foundation, in addition to other significant donations from philanthropic organisations.

At our Support Group Leaders meeting, we shall be hearing from Dr Sam Merriel. Dr Merriel is an academic GP based in Manchester and will be the lead on some of the qualitative components of the study and exploring patient and clinician perspectives around the screening approaches being investigated.

Welcome to our 🌟 11 new Tackle Member Groups  🌟

Over the last month, visits have been made to Preston, Kidderminster, and Purley in South London. All of these groups were well attended and welcomed several new members. 

The Walnut Group – Preston

The Walnut Group – Preston has been running since 2011, provides peer support, and runs an annual community PSA testing event, which is always oversubscribed. The group is chaired by the hardworking Colin Piddlington supported by some wonderful committee members. The three men who came for the first time were warmly welcomed and encouraged to share their stories if they wanted to, and all received answers to questions from a group of people eager to support them. Whilst there was a firm understanding that no two experiences are the same, nonetheless, the men all said they felt informed and supported. 

Purley Prostate Cancer Support Group

Both Walnut Preston and Purley PCSG are located in independent cancer information and support centres. This has the added advantage that group members are able to access further support such as counselling and a range of holistic treatments to support them with their diagnosis. Purley PCSG, has been led by the amazing Terri Garrigan for the past 22 years. Terri is supported by Chris and a number of other members in providing support to a wide range of diverse people which truly reflects the community they serve. I met some really interesting people who do great things to support people with a lived experience of prostate cancer and even signed up a new group. Cops with Prostate is a closed Facebook group for over 135 people all affected by Prostate Cancer who have worked for the Metropolitan Police.

Kidderminster and Worcestershire Prostate Cancer Support Group

I also visited Kidderminster and Worcestershire PCSG. The group is led by the wonderful Mary Symons, who set the group up in 2000 when she was working as a Cancer Nurse Specialist. Mary is supported by a hardworking organising committee. This large group runs a number of groups and services across the whole of Worcestershire. As well as a group specifically for partners, they provide a number of opportunities for people to come together in smaller groups across the county for peer support at their Coffee and Chat sessions; they also run an online exercise class. Awareness events have always been a key part of their work, and recently, they have started to host and fund community PSA blood testing events and have forged excellent relationships with their NHS Primary Care Networks. With over 600 members on their database, they keep everyone updated with a regular printed newsletter.

Please do get in touch with us if you would like to learn about the work of these amazing groups and we will be happy to put you in touch with their group leaders and organisers. 

The resources on our Member’s Portal is growing!
New this month…

Resources
🌟 Information on Data Protection/GDPR
🌟 Support Group Leaders – Best Practice Guidance April 2024
🌟 GDPR Basic Session – May 2024
How to Guides
🌟 Photo Consent Form Example 
Promotional Resources
🌟 Template Support Group Promotional Flyers.

We will update your information and send it to you ready to print. 
🌟 Man of Men Sign
Conference and AGM News
🌟 Tackle Conference 2024 Participants
🌟 Tackle Conference 2024 – Speakers and Exhibitors
🌟 Man of Men Sign

To access these resources and more, log into the members portal.

Take part in Prostate Cancers UK’s March For Men on Sunday 2 June You’ll be able to choose to walk 2.5, 5 or 10km through Battersea park, walk alongside the prostate cancer community, raise vital awareness and save men’s lives. ➡️ Sign up today