A TESTING event that has helped save lives in Whitchurch will be back again next week.

Whitchurch Rotary Club’s prostate testing event has become one of the town’s most valued life-saving projects of the last decade.

The last one in 2023 attracted a record-breaking 600 men who gathered at Whitchurch Rugby Club, in Edgeley Road, and made it one of Rotary’s largest community health events in Shropshire.

Organiser Dave Simcock urged men to attend as it could be the difference be life and death for some.

“Blood samples will be taken for analysis in a bid to detect symptoms of prostate cancer that kills more than 12,000 men every year,” he said.

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“Catching the disease early has already saved dozens of lives in the Whitchurch area alone.

“For any man, aged over 45, it could be one of the most important evenings of their life.”

The potentially life-saving PSA tests – launched nine years ago for early detection of prostate cancer – are done free of charge with costs covered by Rotary from fundraising projects and public donations.

Since they were introduced the tests have recommended hundreds of men to seek further medical advice which, it is estimated, has saved dozens of lives.

The latest screening session – at the Rugby Club again, from 6pm on Monday, March 18 – will be a three-hour testing session with a team of professional phlebotomists joining forces with volunteer support from Rotarians, Inner Wheel members, and friends.

Dave added: “Results are strictly confidential and are forwarded direct to individuals.”