- FirstGroup has donated £1.5 million in value to Prostate Cancer UK, exceeding initial £1 million target
- Information booklets funded by FirstGroup have helped men understand their risk of prostate cancer
- Three-year charity partnership has funded the production of more than one million booklets
Transport operator FirstGroup has exceeded its three-year partnership goals with Prostate Cancer UK by more than £500,000, having donated more than £1.5 million in value to the charity.
With two months of the partnership remaining, more than one million ‘Know Your Prostate’ pocket guides have been printed, some which have already helped people understand their risk of developing prostate cancer, and get the support they need.
One such beneficiary was 61-year-old Gary who, in September 2016, received the news that no man wants to hear: "You’ve got prostate cancer."
Gary commented: “To say I was devastated would be an understatement. I felt fine, I had no symptoms and had always been in good health and very active. I also had no family history of prostate cancer or any other risk factor.”
Having little knowledge about prostate cancer, Gary received an information pack including a FirstGroup-funded pocket guide. After discussing his treatment options, Gary opted for an operation to remove the whole prostate. He is now living a healthy life, having overcome the disease, and is enjoying spending time with his family.
The employee-voted partnership began in April 2015 with an ambitious target of £1 million in value to be donated over the course of three years, in the form of cash, employee fundraising, and the commercial value of gifts in kind. More than £350,000 in cash has been raised by employees, company donations and through matched funding schemes. FirstGroup also donated advertising space on its buses and at railway stations to Prostate Cancer UK to help raise awareness of the disease and encourage the public to join the fight against prostate cancer.
Throughout the partnership thousands of staff have attended awareness talks delivered by the charity’s network of volunteers helping FirstGroup colleagues to become more aware of their risks, and encouraged to share the information with their family, friends and customers.
The nature of the partnership has led to significant press and media coverage, with a readership of more than 5.8m over the last three years.
James Beeby, Director of Fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We are incredibly grateful to FirstGroup and its employees for donating £1.5 million in value to Prostate Cancer UK over the past three years. This is a testament to the dedication of everyone who has embraced the partnership, and gone above and beyond to exceed its target. One man every 45 minutes dies of prostate cancer, and one in eight men will develop the disease. It is with support such as this that we can beat prostate cancer, and help provide dedicated support and information to more men and their families affected by the disease. Our thanks go to everyone at FirstGroup who has helped to achieve this phenomenal amount.”
Tim O’Toole, Chief Executive of FirstGroup, said: “Throughout the last three years, FirstGroup employees have embraced our partnership with Prostate Cancer UK and subsequently surpassed our original donation target by more than half a million pounds. We look forward to building on this success when we embark on an exciting and productive three-year partnership with Action for Children.”
Prostate Cancer UK was chosen as FirstGroup’s UK charity of choice partner following a ballot of thousands of employees and was the main beneficiary of FirstGroup’s corporate responsibility activities across its UK businesses; First Bus, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, South Western Railway and TransPennine Express.
Following the completion of the current partnership, at the end of March 2018, Action for Children will become FirstGroup’s next charity of choice.