EXCLUSIVE: Balreed has raised the awareness of prostate cancer in the workplace through its ‘Be a Hero’ campaign.
All 204 employees at the independent provider of print, document, IT and process technology attended workshops on highlighting the importance of prostate cancer and early detection in January.
Workshops were run at Balreed’s eight offices in Wakefield, Bristol, Birmingham, Maidstone and London between 13 and 23 January 2015.
Invitations were extended to family members and friends of female staff and men under the age of 40.
The scheme, which was provided by HealthScreen UK, offered male staff members over the age of 40 a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test after the workshop.
The initiative was set up after Balreed’s managing director, Robin Stanton-Gleaves, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year.
He said: “Whilst prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, there is no national screening programme in the UK.
“Having suffered with prostate cancer myself, I wanted to raise awareness across the whole Balreed family of colleagues.
“A significant number of our male employees are aged over 40, and by investing in this campaign I hope to have given them an understanding of their risks and the tools for early detection.
“We are keen to keep momentum going though, so will be looking into other techniques of raising awareness among staff as well.”