Wellingborough Bowling Club presents cheque to Prostate Cancer UK after annual fundraising exceeds expectations

Wellingborough Bowling Club spent 2022 raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK and this week handed over a cheque for £1,325.

The presentation was conducted once the Monday matches concluded, handing over the fantastic figure to help the charity continue its life-saving work.

John Marlow, the president of Wellingborough Bowling Club until February 2023, selected the charity the previous year as one close to his heart.

He said: “I know a few people who have had tests and have been diagnosed.

"I had in my head a target of £500, but we actually raised £1,325.

"I was overwhelmed with people’s generosity that kept mounting up over the year.

"People have been absolutely amazing.”

In what Mr Marlow called a ‘team effort’, the club collected the funds with raffles, a BBQ and individual donations flooding in through the year.

Approximately 11,000 men die of prostate cancer each year, with one in eight being diagnosed with the condition in their lifetime.

Prostate Cancer UK is a charity that, according to a spokesman at the presentation aims to ‘publicise the advances in treatment’, as efforts to fight the condition receive ‘a tiny fraction of breast cancer funding’, despite the grim figures being somewhat similar.

The president of the club changes each year, alternating between male and female members.

When a new person takes the role, they select a charity that the club raises money for, and this year the 2023 president Christine Cooper decided the beneficiary of the club’s charitable efforts would be the Multiple System Atrophy Trust.