FirstGroup and its employees have donated in excess of £440,000 to their UK Charity of Choice, Prostate Cancer UK over the last year.
Thousands of FirstGroup’s employees chose Prostate Cancer UK as the company’s UK Charity of Choice partner for three years after a nationwide vote. The partnership, which began in April 2015, aims to raise £1m to support Prostate Cancer UK’s work to help more men survive prostate cancer and enjoy a better quality of life.
Over the last twelve months, the 25,000 employees of the Group’s bus and rail operations in the UK have helped both raise funds and awareness with great events including charity quizzes, cycle rides, sponsored runs, collections and cake sales. These activities have raised almost £25,000 since April 2015.
FirstGroup and its companies, including First Bus, TransPennine Express and Great Western Railway, have donated over £100,000 from various initiatives. Great Western Railway held charity auctions of railway memorabilia, and TransPennine Express donated a sum for each customer who opted to print their travel tickets at home, raising over £40,000 between them. FirstGroup increased this total through initiatives such as match funding employees’ fundraising, and donating £5 per nomination for every entry received into its annual employee recognition awards.
FirstGroup has also donated advertising space worth more than £300,000 throughout the company’s extensive UK bus and rail networks, to launch the charity’s ‘Men United’ poster campaign, highlighting how one man dies every hour from prostate cancer in the UK, and what commuters can do to help put a stop to it.
Awareness raising events and volunteer led talks and stands have been held in FirstGroup depots and offices across the UK, and part of FirstGroup’s donations will fund the production of one million 'Know Your Prostate' pocket guides which raise awareness of the symptoms of the disease.
Tim O’Toole, Chief Executive of FirstGroup, said:
“More than 330,000 men in the UK are living with prostate cancer, with one in eight men diagnosed with the disease at some stage in their lives. A key aim of our partnership is to ensure FirstGroup’s employees, customers and the wider community know their risk of prostate cancer, raising awareness of the disease and the support available from the charity.
I’m proud of the enthusiasm and passion that so many of our employees have shown for fundraising and supporting Prostate Cancer UK. It is truly inspiring.”
Angela Culhane, Chief Executive at Prostate Cancer UK said:
“We are thrilled to mark this milestone with the news that FirstGroup has exceeded £440,000 in fundraising. It’s a fantastic tribute to FirstGroup and its employees who’ve embraced the partnership and our target to halve prostate cancer deaths within ten years.”
“More than 10,500 men die from prostate cancer in the UK each year. That's one man every hour. By raising funds, donating advertising space, and joining Men United, FirstGroup is helping us fight back and raise awareness of men’s risk. Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it, but joining the fight will.
“Our thanks go to everyone at FirstGroup who helped raise such an incredible amount.”
The partnership with Prostate Cancer UK is a key part of FirstGroup’s community strategy and will run until 2018.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Ian Wheeler, Group External Communications Officer, FirstGroup plc – 020 7725 2747, [email protected]
NOTES TO EDITORS
About prostate cancer:
- More than 10,500 men die from prostate cancer in the UK each year. That's one man every hour.
- It’s the most common cancer in men, with 330,000 living with and after the disease in the UK.
- Prostate cancer is set to become the most commonly diagnosed cancer of all in the UK by 2030 - which is why we must all act now to curb its power to kill.
- Prostate cancer treatment often causes devastating, long term side-effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
- Anyone with concerns about prostate cancer may contact Prostate Cancer UK's Specialist Nurses in confidence on 0800 074 8383 or online via the Live Chat instant messaging service: www.prostatecanceruk.org. The Specialist Nurse phone service is free to use from landlines and open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday with late opening from 10am until 8pm on Wednesdays.
- Visit www.prostatecanceruk.org now to help beat this disease.
About Prostate Cancer UK:
Prostate Cancer UK has a simple ambition – to stop men dying from prostate cancer.
Through shifting the science over the next 10 years to focus on radical improvements in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and support, we can make prostate cancer a disease the next generation of men need not fear. Standing against injustice, Men United is Prostate Cancer UK’s movement for everyone who believes that men are worth fighting for. Already more than a quarter of a million strong, Men United will help Prostate Cancer UK raise its game - and the funds vital to beat this disease. Working together, we can stop prostate cancer in its tracks.
To join the quarter of a million people already fighting for the disease and to help tame prostate cancer in ten years visit: menunited.prostatecanceruk.org
Further details on Prostate Cancer UK’s research priorities for the next ten years can be found here: http://prostatecanceruk.org/media/2492205/research-strategy-3-priority-areas.pdf
About FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America and our services help to create strong, vibrant and sustainable local economies. During the last year around 2.4 billion people relied on us to get to work, to education, to visit family and friends and much more and, each day, every one of our 110,000 employees works hard to deliver vitally important services for our passengers.
Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world… keeping people moving and communities prospering.
For more information about FirstGroup and our divisions please visit www.firstgroupplc.com