Posters for prostate cancer displayed on area's buses

First Solent has donated £4,440 of advertising space on its buses to help launch a poster campaign, which highlights that one man dies every hour from prostate cancer in the UK, and what bus passengers and the general public can do to put a stop to it.

A total of 62 men in Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport die from prostate cancer each year, while one in eight men across the UK is diagnosed with the disease at some stage in their lives.

Prostate Cancer UK was chosen as FirstGroup’s charity of choice partners following a vote of 25,000 employees from its rail, tram and bus operations across the UK, including colleagues at First Solent.

The three-year 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.

Dervla McKay, the general manager of First Solent, said: ‘We are proud to support Prostate Cancer UK and delighted that many vehicles in our fleet feature the provocative and powerful posters.

‘The key aims of our partnership with Prostate Cancer UK are to ensure First Solent 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 supporting Prostate Cancer UK – it is truly inspiring.’

Angela Culhane, the chief executive at Prostate Cancer UK said: ‘It is fantastic to see our adverts displayed on buses in Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport, and we are very grateful to First Solent for donating this space.

‘Prostate cancer affects about a third of a million men in the UK, and nearly 11,000 men die every year from it. But not enough men are aware of it, so we needed an advert which is eye catching and attention grabbing.’