Real Stories
25 Oct 2019Meet the legends whose powerful words about prostate cancer are emblazoned on a one-off football
This bright blue and orange Vanarama X Prostate Cancer UK match ball is the first time ever a one-off ball has been used in a Non-League fixture, and it's covered with messages from four Prostate Cancer UK legends.
Vanarama launch a one-off ball featuring quotes from men living with prostate cancer at Chesterfield v Notts County game last Saturday.
It marked another big moment in Vanarama’s six-week ‘MANarama’ campaign, fronted by Vinnie Jones. The league is renamed as the MANarama National League to highlight that a man dies from prostate cancer every 45 minutes in the UK.
The ball features powerful testimonies from four men affected by the disease, some who'll be well known to our supporters. Since their diagnosis, all have made incredible efforts to raise awareness and helped to raise thousands of pounds for Prostate Cancer UK.
Read the quotes and meet the men spreading the message on and off the pitch...
Lloyd Pinder
Father of two, Lloyd was only 43 when he was diagnosed and was informed that he has five to ten years to live. He's been doing a huge amount of work for Prostate Cancer UK, raising over £16,000 with Jeff’s March and his own charity ball. He knows of two men that have caught their prostate cancer early through his work, and has no doubt impacted the lives of many, many more.
We stand together in our quest to change the game for men and their families affected by prostate cancer, and the grassroots game is the perfect platform to do this.
Phill Coates
Phil is well known by the St Albans City FC faithful as club mascot Sammy the Saint. The man is absolutely relentless in his support of prostate cancer research. He's cycled to Amsterdam, he's walked 10 marathons with Jeff Stelling, and now he's leading the charge in the Non-League football community with his message emblazoned on this ball and by wearing his 'Man of Men' pin badge with pride.
It’s great we can raise awareness of prostate cancer within the Non-League community. The spirit of everyone is so strong and I'm so proud that my club are always so supportive.
Errol McKellar
56 year old Errol Mckellar starred in the BBC Lifeline Appeal for us recently. He's determined to encourage men to get checked everywhere he goes. When he worked as a car mechanic in Hackney, he's day to customers “when was the last time you had your prostate checked? You brought your car in here for me to check because there’s a problem. Do you know what’s going on in your own insides?"
Rivals on the pitch, united off it. The football family is the perfect vehicle to raise awareness of prostate cancer. Thank you MANarama. Thank you football. Goodbye prostate cancer.
It was a momentous evening for prostate cancer survivor @errol_mckellar as he carried the one-off #Manarama matchball out at the weekend.
— Notts County FC (@Official_NCFC) 28 October 2019
By clicking below, you can donate to @ProstateUK and support their work so more people like Errol can say goodbye to prostate cancer.
Kevin Webber
Our heroic ultra-running ambassador, Kevin Webber, scooped top prize at last year's JustGiving Awards. It's richly-deserved recognition for a man who – after being given just two years to live in 2014 – has gone on to run in extreme races around the world, raising in excess of £100k for prostate cancer research.
I want to show that a grim diagnosis doesn’t mean you have to mope around being miserable. Football has inspired me to have my own ‘promotion season’ feeling every day, despite having terminal prostate cancer.
Get involved
For more information about the MANarama campaign visit the Vanarama (@Vanarama) and Prostate Cancer UK (@ProstateUK) Twitter feeds and the #GiveandGo hashtag. There are also three ways people can donate to the campaign using their mobile phones:
Text MAN £3, MAN £5 or MAN £10 to 70004 and help stop prostate cancer being a killer.
Texts cost £3, £5 or £10 plus network charge. Prostate Cancer UK receives 100% of your donation.