Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. We've had to start a second page as the first was set up in a way that meant people couldn't claim Gift Aid. We have added the amount collected on the first (£430) as an offline donation here and added a sum that would be the equivalent of the Gift Aid (£107.50). We felt it was better to do this now more money can be raised with the additional aid. As the other page will close down I'd like to thank all those that donated (Anne & Dai, Gareth & Jacqui, Donna & Justin, Kirsty & Griff, Dave & Marzena, Paul Wyn & Stuart).

The story below is the same.

A lot of people will know that Russell was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December 2015, and after seeing a consultant in January had a prostatectomy (surgery to remove the prostate) on the 11th February 2016.

He was fortunate to be able to have my surgery done with the use of the Da Vinci Robot in Cardiff. The consultant doing the surgery was Mr Fenn. Russell was back home the next day, up and out of the house within a few a days.  There was an unexpected lack of pain and he was pretty much back to normal within a few weeks. This was largely down to the excellent team that undertook the surgery and the precision the robot brings to the procedure.

Unfortunately there is only one robot in Wales compared to 40-50 in England and there is limited funding available to train consultants to use the robot. Prostate Cymru helped promote the need to have a robot in Wales and currently fund most of the training but its clear more needs to be done to improve access to a better range of treatment in Wales. Most men in Wales have open surgery as their main option if they need their prostate removed, so it feels right to direct any efforts to a charity working in Wales only, to see if we can help do something to improve the current situation.

We're mindful too that Russell was relatively young (48) to be diagnosed with prostate cancer so we want to raise awareness so that men have a PSA test regularly to check whether or not there are any signs of potential cancer in their prostate. For most, the PSA will only give an assurance that things are fine but for others it will provide an early opportunity to do something about cancer if its there (or at least check things out more). The PSA is a simple blood test and takes just a couple of minutes, but it can save lives. In Russell's case, the cancer was picked up early enough so the cancer was contained in the prostate and had not spread elsewhere. So get checked out.

We intend to raise awareness and encourage donations over the next two years or so, primarily through Russell's links with football and work, but we both felt that our wedding, which will be just four months on from the surgery, is a good place to start off some prostate cancer awareness raising and encourage some donations. We don't expect or want people to feel obliged to donate but if you want to donate then we will appreciate the support. 

We will have Prostate Cymru pin badges and donation boxes available at the wedding and will have them available in various places thereafter but thought we'd set up a page on here to assist too. We should be able to update with different ideas that we pursue in future too.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. It also helps with things like Gift Aid and will go to Prostate Cymru directly.

Thanks / diolch

Russell and Barbara