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Royal Mail and Prostate Cancer UK are joining forces to ensure the delivery of better care services for men with this disease across the UK.
Prostate Cancer UK has been selected as Royal Mail’s Charity of the Year after more than 36,000 employees selected the charity in a staff vote. Royal Mail and colleagues hope to raise at least £2 million over two years for the charity. This will help fund up to 50 specialist prostate cancer nurses, based at the heart of communities, helping around 44,000 more men.
Employees will raise the funds through a series of fundraising initiatives and events, with an initial target of £1 million. Their efforts will then be match funded by Royal Mail – the first time the organisation has done this.
Prostate Cancer UK (formerly known as The Prostate Cancer Charity) is also unveiling a new identity as part of an ambitious new approach, which presents the cause and the organisation in a more distinctive, forceful and urgent way.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: “These are genuinely exciting times for the charity. The fact that Royal Mail employees voted for us shows how much men’s health, and prostate cancer in particular, is an issue that just can’t be ignored any more. This partnership will make a real and tangible difference to the quarter of a million men living with this disease. As well as ensuring more men build a relationship with a specialist nurse – which they tell us is invaluable – it will help us get the message out to thousands of Royal Mail employees. We thank all of the Royal Mail staff who voted for us.
“We are also unveiling a brand new identity. Changing our name to Prostate Cancer UK marks a new chapter in our history, and signifies our drive to lead change. We will support men with innovative services wherever they live, and find the answers for the future through comprehensive research.”
Moya Greene, Chief Executive of Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail is delighted to be supporting Prostate Cancer UK as our new Charity of the Year. Our goal is to raise as much as possible for this worthy cause. In addition, by match funding the efforts of our people, penny for penny, we can make a real difference to the very valuable work they do for men and their families affected by prostate cancer, across the UK.”
For more information on Prostate Cancer UK, please visit www.prostatecanceruk.org.
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Notes to editors
About Prostate Cancer UK:
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK. Over 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. Every hour one man dies from prostate cancer.
African Caribbean men are three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men of the same age.
Prostate Cancer UK fights to help more men survive prostate cancer and enjoy a better quality of life. We support men and provide vital information. We find answers by funding research into causes and treatments. And we lead change, raising the profile of the disease and improving care. We believe that men deserve better.
If you have any queries about prostate cancer, call Prostate Cancer UK's Specialist Nurses on 0800 074 8383 which open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and Wednesdays from 7 - 9pm or visit www.prostatecanceruk.org.
About the partnership:
- Prostate Cancer UK is Royal Mail’s official Charity of the Year from 2012 to mid 2014.
- Prostate Cancer UK received 45 per cent of the staff vote, as thousands of employees put their weight behind the cause.
- Employees voted for their charity of choice from a shortlist of three through Royal Mail’s annual Employee Opinion Survey.
- Royal Mail worked very closely with the Communication Workers Union to come up with the final shortlist of charities for the new Charity of the Year programme.
- As part of its ‘everyone’s a winner’ approach, Royal Mail is also donating £50,000 each to the two other charities that colleagues voted for - Alzheimer’s Society and Whizz-Kidz - as part of the Charity of the Year programme.
- Royal Mail hopes to encourage employees to raise at least £1 million for Prostate Cancer UK. For the first time, Royal Mail will match funds raised by employees for the Charity of the Year up to £1 million a year, in each of the two years of the programme.
- Money that Royal Mail and colleagues raise will go towards funding specialist prostate cancer nurses in areas of need across the UK.
- With £2 million, Prostate Cancer UK would be able to recruit and train enough new specialist prostate cancer nurses to help around 44,000 more men.
- And, once colleagues and Royal Mail have raised £2 million for Prostate Cancer UK, any funds colleagues raise for either Alzheimer’s Society, Prostate Cancer UK or Whizz-Kidz will also be matched, penny for penny, by Royal Mail, up to £1 million in total.
- Royal Mail’s previous partnership with Barnardo’s raised £2.6 million for the charity over four years.
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Contact:
Simon Feldman, Royal Mail Group
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Emma Fielder, Prostate Cancer UK
020 8222 7670
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