Check for prostate cancer this Saturday at the Crown Oil Arena

Don’t miss the chance to get your prostate tested at the Crown Oil Arena this Saturday (19 January), before the home game against Fleetwood Town.

Rochdale Football Club, in conjunction with the Barry Kilby Prostate Cancer Appeal (BKPCA), is hosting a PSA testing day – measuring the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood.

All men aged 50 and over, or 45 and over with a family history of cancer, are welcome to attend.

It’s normal to have a small amount of PSA in your blood, and the amount rises as you get older and your prostate gets bigger, according to Prostrate Cancer UK. A raised PSA level may suggest you have a problem with your prostate, but not necessarily cancer.

In 2015, following his own diagnosis, Burnley’s vice-chairman Barry Kilby launched the appeal to provide opportunities for men to be tested for prostate cancer, a disease which affects one in eight men in the UK.

Around 2,000 men have been tested to date and least 100 lives have been saved by this approach.

Mr Kilby said: “I’m delighted that Rochdale Football Club have got involved.

“One of the problems with prostate cancer, as it was with me, is that it becomes advanced before you see any symptoms.

“This blood test will show if there is something wrong and act as the warning in the early stages. We’ve saved well over 100 lives doing it like this.

“When we first launched this at Burnley, we ran out of needles! We thought we’d get around 200 – we actually got to 400 and odd.

“It’s gaining momentum now and it has been a really successful way of getting men tested, using the football link.

“I hope as many people as possible get themselves tested on the day, I can’t stress enough how important it is to do so.”

Initially launched at the Premier League club, other clubs from the Premier League and the EFL, including Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth, have arranged testing days at their club.

Testing will be done between 11.00am and 2.00pm in the Study Centre, located on Willbutts Lane.

Those being tested will be asked for a minimum £5 donation, with the Barry Kilby Prostate Cancer Appeal funding the remainder of the test’s costs.

Manager Keith Hill will be amongst those tested on the day.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/events/58559/events-in-rochdale/psa-testing-day-at-rochdale-football-club