Three Leicestershire pubs are raising awareness of testicular cancer during national Balls to Cancer Male Cancer Awareness Week by creating a specials menu to encourage men to check themselves.

The Orange Tree pubs in Leicester and Loughborough, and The Lansdowne in London Road, Leicester, have designed dishes for their specials board which should remind men to keep an eye on what’s happening down below.

And each time a customer chooses one of the dishes – meatballs, fishballs, chicken balls or veggie falafel balls – the pubs will donate £1 to be split between the Balls to Cancer campaign and the Coping with Cancer charity, based in Leicestershire and Rutland.

“Around half of all cases of testicular cancer occur in men under 35 years of age and over 90% occur in men under 55 years,” said Alex Lumley, assistant manager at The Orange Tree in High Street, Leicester.

“Many of our customers fit into this demographic and during Balls to Cancer Male Cancer Awareness Week we want to do our bit to raise awareness of the importance of self-examination.

“The idea is that they check their balls – and then they check ours. We’re hoping that as well as raising awareness, we’ll also collect a good sum for the Balls to Cancer campaign and for the Coping with Cancer charity, which is a local good cause that the Orange Tree pubs and The Lansdowne have supported previously.”

Balls to Cancer’s Male Cancer Awareness Week runs from June 2^nd to 9^th and is a national campaign which turns the spotlight on male cancers.

The chefs at the pubs have created the special dishes to appeal to a variety of tastes and dietary requirements. They will be available throughout the week.

51 Days in a Kilt.

The kilt, one of the few non-bifurcated garments a man can wear without being accused of cross-dressing.

The history of the kilt dates back to at least the end of the 16th century, where it was worn as a belt or a cloaked garment, the modern variations of the famous Scottish attire did not develop until between the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, the kilt is a symbol of Scottish and Celtic pride, strength and identity, so certainly seeing a 51 year old man walking around the Black Country in such a garment may be surprising at first.

Stuart Crowley, presently aged 50, intends to spend 51 days wearing a kilt in support of the ‘Balls to Cancer’ foundation, supporting treatment of testicular cancer. The event shall span from Stoo’s 51st birthday – the 14th May 2013 until Wednesday 3rd July.

The Englishman – with possible Scottish and Celtic ancestry – has previously supported numerous charities, and his dedication to fundraising has included participating in the Great North Run twice, and running the London Marathon three times!

Stoo’s latest venture has currently received a lot of support from his family and friends, and the event’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/51daysinakilt presently has over 100 supporters, though he is naturally always looking for more.

Links to the events blog, justgiving page and of course the balls to cancer website can be found on the facebook fan page – where Stoo regularly updates with photos and progression towards the event.

Please help support this charitable gesture in aid of male cancers, and lets all wish Stoo a great deal of luck.

Nearly two months wearing a kilt, he’s probably going to need it.

written by Jake Crowley

edited by Stuart Crowley

We have spent time and money on our ongoing awareness campaign, which posters, mail shots events etc…..

We have always stated that we would work very closely with research labs that seem to be making significant headway in the fight against cancer. Last year we gave away thousands of pounds  to such causes.

We gave £2000 to Brunel University who were and still are making leaps in understanding how to specifically tailor treatment to an individual not just the blanket treatment patients get at the moment.

We gave £1000 to Birmingham University for their prostate cancer research which again seems to be ground breaking.

We gave £1100 to the Birmingham Children’s hospital Cancer unit to help with the upgrading of their facilities to help improve life on the wards for patients and their families.

We gave £1772 to The Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham for a Bowel Cancer Outpatients surgery which bought all the medical equipment needed to start treating people

These are just the main beneficiaries many others have benefited from your hard work and for that we thank you.

This year we plan to get involved with Wolverhampton & Leicester Universities as well as still helping out others where we can. This year we have helped send a courageous young lady and her family to the USA for vital treatment, we have sent £1000 to The Wolverhampton based Compton Hospice a brilliant local cancer care unit.

With your help we will help more, we will do more research and we will investigate the natural treatments to see if there is any truth in them.

If you are or know of someone/somewhere making steps in the right direction and toward a cure let me know. We need to work with the people that will help us bring this vile disease to an end

We are holding a charity golf day at Perton Park Golf Club on the 3-8-13 we are offering single places at £40 each and a team of 4 at £120. This includes a 2 course meal.

Our Patron Jody Craddock will be there so Wolves fans get your places booked now! 

Yes with only 8 months to Christmas we have already booked the best way to kick off your festive season. Again we have teamed up with the Copthorne Hotel and we will be offering you all the fun of Christmas with fine food, crackers and for your entertainment we have the wonderful Emily MacPherson and our own Target By Numbers

So why not book your tickets NOW to avoid disappointment. Get them here

On the 12th May 2013 we are having an away day and visiting the Home of Kidderminster Harriers to play a side of celebrities and former players put together by Steve Burr. Our side should be the same as played the Albion old boys.

This game will be to raise funds for us and two other charities close to our hearts Cords 4 Life UK and the Birmingham Childrens Hospital. So please come a long and support three great causes.

On Sunday the 28th April 2013 the BTC Allstars will be playing an epic game of football against the WBA Old Boys team at The Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton.

The Albion squad is listed on our events list, our squad includes Jody Craddock (Parton), Ayden Callaghan (Ambassador), Matt Murray (Englands No 1 Keeper) and a host of other TV personalities (see poster below for details)

Kick off is 12 o’clock Ticket prices are £4 adult and £1 child (under 12) and are available here

Please feel free to download the poster (below) and put it up in your local shop/leisure centre/school

BTC v WBA poster

We have the greatest of pleasures in announcing that we will be donating £1000 today to Compton Hospice for the great work they do for cancer patients.

Popping down the local turns into 62.5 mile challenge for Black Country friends

A quick trip down the pub has turned into the challenge of a lifetime for four novice runners from the Black Country.

Dave Bytheway, Ian Bytheway, Nick Cockburn and Nigel Bolton are swapping their day jobs as an accountant, Financial Director, sprinkler fitter and firefighter to run 62.5 miles – in 15 hours – as part of the grueling London to Brighton challenge on May 25^th.

The intrepid quartet – nicknamed ‘Team Running on Empty’ – are looking to pound the streets, hills and pathways of South East England to raise £5000 for Balls to Cancer, a local charity established by Mark Bates to fund male cancer awareness, education and research.

As part of their 500-mile strong training programme they will complete two ultra races, 4 marathons, 2 half marathons and the infamous Groundhog Marathon – 105 laps of Telford Athletic Stadium.

Dave Bytheway, Director at Bytheway Accountants and the inspiration behind the challenge, explained: “We were having a few beers down the pub when somebody threw down the gauntlet of running 62.5 miles.
“None of us are affiliated to a running club and, although we were all decent footballers in our day, I think it’s safe to say we’d hung up our boots for the real ale. Still a challenge is a challenge and we just needed something to get behind to make it all worthwhile.”

He went on to add: “I’d heard about the excellent work Mark and his family were doing in setting up Balls to Cancer and I liked the fact it was helping to support men with cancer. We had another chat down the pub and the rest is history.”

‘Team Running on Empty’ has received overwhelming support from the local business community, with Conveyor Units and Bytheway Accountants pledging their support as main sponsors.

Jacks Café and Bar, located in Frederick Street in Wolverhampton, is also lending its backing, hosting regular meetings and a major fundraising event on March 22^nd..

More than 200 people have already snapped up tickets for the charity night, which will see the King (Les Rivers) go head-to-head with Shoddy Woddy, a mega raffle and an all-star auction featuring memorabilia from Wolves’ Wayne Hennessey, Talksport and many other celebrities and sports stars.

Nick Cockburn concluded: “£5,000 is our target and we are already well on the way to achieving that. I think that will make us one of Balls to Cancer’s biggest one off fundraisers!

“I’m sure by the 60^th mile, we’ll all be wishing we hadn’t escaped for that cheeky pint down the pub.”

To make a donation, please visit www.justgiving.com/londonbrighton2013 or text Daft62 £5 to 70070.

If you would like to see the guys run 13 miles in their least favourite football shirt (Nick: Spurs, Dave: Wolves, Ian: Blues and Nigel: West Bromwich Albion) then contact Nick to place your special donation on 07792 383358

The Brilliant and very kind Artist Horace Panter (our ambassador) has very kindly continued his Cassette artwork series with a special Never Mind the Bollocks one, specifically for our charity. We will be auctioning the original artwork very soon and the link will appear here.

It is with the greatest of pleasure we thank Horace and Clare for the help and support