A North London hair salon has raised almost £3,000 for The
Prostate Cancer Charity as part of their drive to raise awareness
of prostate cancer during Black History Month.
Staff at Aquarius Hair and Beauty, on Stroud Green Road, were
inspired to fundraise and get their customers thinking about the
disease, after losing the salon's co-founder, Horace Parry, to
prostate cancer 11 years ago.
Horace's son, Horace Parry Junior, 47, who helps to manage
Aquarius Hair and Beauty, had also been diagnosed with the disease,
and received brachytherapy to treat the cancer some 8 years
ago.
The salon kicked off its month-long awareness campaign with a
prize-raffle on Saturday 1 October at the premises and sold cakes
and light refreshments to raise money for The Prostate Cancer
Charity. The top prize - tickets to see X-Factor singing sensation
Leona Lewis - was drawn by Mr Parry's brother who was also
diagnosed with the disease. In total, £2,600 was raised.
Prostate cancer can affect any man, but men who are most at risk
of developing the disease, are those who are over the age of 50,
men with a family history of the disease and men from the
African-Caribbean community.
Throughout October, salon staff talked to their customers about
prostate cancer, after receiving training from The Prostate Cancer
Charity, and gave out leaflets to raise awareness of the
disease.
Local businesses, including The Association for Prostate
Awareness in Newham (APA), Gaute Goat clothing & accessories,
Fish & Cook Stationery's, Barclays Bikes Dalston, The Happening
Bagel Bakery, Finsbury Car Audio, Park Health & Beauty
Pharmacy, Quality Fish Bar Restaurant & Takeaway, Tesco Metro
Stroud Green Road, and Sainsbury Crouch Hill Local also got behind
Aquarius Hair's campaign, by supporting the salon with donations
for the launch.
Claire Walsh, Head of Community Fundraising at The Prostate
Cancer Charity, said: "It's brilliant that everyone at Aquarius
Hair and Beauty got behind the cause to raise awareness of prostate
cancer amongst their supporters for the entire month of October.
They have seen first-hand the effect the disease can have, with the
loss of Horace Parry Senior, and are committed to getting the
message about it out there. We'd like to say a big thank you for
all their efforts and for raising such an amazing amount of
money."