Real XS 4th Birthday Party, Manchester (Saturday 5th May 2012)
- If you’re into your rock music, this is the event for you!  We’ll need volunteers to man our stall, sell tickets and run the raffle and generally represent Men Matter.

Thundersprint,  Northwich (Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th May 2012)
- Calling all bikers!  The hugely popular bike show takes place on the Saturday, ahead of the race itself on the Sunday.  We will need volunteers for both days to bucket collect and mingle with the public, traders and stars.

Bupa Great Manchester (10k) Run, Manchester city centre (Sunday 20th May)
- We need runners (if you’re up for the challenge!) and volunteers to man the stall in Manchester Central from 10am-4pm.

Pre-Father’s Day fundraising event at GAP, Trafford Centre (Saturday 9th June 2012)
- GAP are running an in-store promotion to sell Father’s Day cards with proceeds going to Men Matter.  The weekend before the big day, when most mums and children are likely to be out shopping for presents,  we are holding an in-store event.  We’ll need volunteers to run a raffle, blow up balloons, paint faces, dress in our mascot costumes and generally represent the appeal.

Didsbury Car Show, Didsbury Park (Sunday 15th July 2012)
- A low key attendance at the 3rd annual classic car show, we’ll need volunteers to shake buckets, hand out leaflets and information cards and run the raffle.

Oulton Park – TBC
- As with the Thundersprint event, this is for you motorbike enthusiasts!  We’ll hopefully be there for 2 days, and need volunteers to shake the buckets, hand out leaflets and meet the teams and stall holders and ask for donations.  It’s a great day out too – why not get the whole family involved?

Lancashire T20 cricket match, Lancashire County Cricket Club (July – exact date TBC)
- Cricket fan or not, this is a great event to volunteer for!  Last year it was a glorious summers evening and we collected almost £1k whilst raising the awareness of the appeal to the mainly male audience.  We gave out info cards, had pictures with some of the LCCC players and our very own mascot, Mighty Max competed with Lanky, the LCCC mascot and won in the half time challenge!

Stars at Darley (Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th October 2012)
- The annual round up to the Darley Moor Championship, this weekend is in every bikers diary! Attracting 1000′s of biking fans this is a big fund and awareness raising opportunity for us and we need lots of volunteers for a few hours each day to bucket collect, handout leaflets and other merchandise, mingle with the stars and spread the Men Matter message.

‘Christie’s Month’ Bucket Collection Day  (October – exact date TBC)
- Working in aid of The Christie, we work closely with them throughout the year on various projects.  During Christie’s Month (October) they will nominate a date and a town in Greater Manchester for us to conduct a bucket collection in. We’ll need lots of volunteers to man dedicated hot-spots around the town for optimum exposure.

Please email Emma at contact@menmatterappeal.com or call her on 07733 801671 if would like to get involved in any of our events.

Men Matter will feature on Inside Out North West on Monday 13th February 2012 at 7:30pm.

The 10 minute feature will discuss the North/South divide with relation to male cancer funding, follows the journey of a current patient at The Christie and that of Bernard Edmunds, our chairman and how he came to set up Men Matter.  There are interviews with Professor Noel Clarke, Consultant Urological Surgeon at The Christie and Salford Royal, footage of our volunteers campaigning on the streets of Manchester and a section featuring some of the Lancashire County Cricket Club players and their coach Peter Moores discussing the issue of male health awareness and what can be done to tackle it.

It’s hoped that the high profile exposure from the BBC will attract some new interest in the appeal whether it’s those looking for help and advice, new volunteers or people wanting to fundraise or put on an event on our behalf.

Tune into BBC One at 7:30pm on Monday 13th February 2012.

The staff at Vehicle Consulting in Levenshulme raised £170.00 for Men Matter via the raffle of a luxurious Christmas hamper, full of goodies including food and wine.  All the staff put in £5.00 each for a ticket, which was then matched by the boss.  Names were put in a hat and the lucky winner was Office Manager Christine Gibbons.

Many thanks to the team at Vehicle Consulting for their generosity; it’s acts such as this that are vital to our appeal.

If you’re interested  in holding a raffle, dress down day or similar event at your work in the name of Men Matter, please get in touch.  We’ll endeavour to support you in anyway we can; from help with ideas to sponsor forms and t-shirts for all your colleagues to wear.

The popular Manchester Classic Rock stations annual bash was a hit with all who attended and us here at Men Matter HQ too.  The station and their listeners have long supported our appeal and once again they chose to show their commitment by donating funds raised on the day to our cause.

In true rebellious fashion the rockers went off script to put their own spin on the Christmas celebrations….  As you can see from the pictures below, their Santa was an alternative take on the traditional image and he had some ‘naughty’ helpers too.  Pictures with the trio were charged at £5 a-go with all proceeds heading our way.  Revellers also enjoyed live music from the likes of Subhuman Race, Jef Leppard, Boot Led Zep, Ace N Eights and more, as well as performances from pole dancing group The Upside Down Ladies.

The event at Jabez Clegg was a roaring success.  More photo’s can be found on the Real Radio XS Facebook page

Helena and her friend Jessiac Balodis, another Men Matter volunteer, were back-packing in South America when they did the 4 day trek to Machu Picchu.

The girls spent their first night camping in a remote village in a valley up in the mountains.  On the  second night they camped on the borders of the Amazon rainforest after climbing to 4500m which Helena admits was the “hardest thing I’ve ever done!”.

The tired but determined pair reached Machu Picchu on 14th October and donned their Men Matter t-shirts to mark the occasion!  They also climbed up Wayna Picchu which is limited to just 400 people a day.

We’re very proud of the girls efforts and are glad they were inspired to take Men Matter’s fight against male cancers to the other side of the world.  Well done girls!

Karen is a keen runner and took part in the Conwy Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November (that’s a staggering 13.1 miles to us mere mortals).  Not only did she complete the tough course in an impressive 1 hour and 57 minutes but she also raised £408.75 for Men Matter in doing so.

Rumour has it Karen has already signed up to run the Manchester 10k for us in May 2012 too – that should be a walk in the park for her after her latest efforts.

Thanks again Karen and well done!

In typical ‘rawk’ fashion the event will be an alternative Christmas celebration featuring Santa’s Grotty Grotto, rock band tribute acts, burlesque dancers, a singing comedian and more.

Kicking off from 4pm at popular Manchester venue Jabez Clegg on Oxford Road, the party is set to run into the wee hours.  There are drinks promotions from 4-7pm and tickets are just £12.

To find out more about this event or to book your tickets please visit the Real XS website.

We’re looking for 100 runners, of all abilities, to take part in the coveted 10k (6.23 mile) event on Sunday 20th May 2012 and the aim is for each of them to raise £100 in sponsorship for Men Matter.

If you or a relative, friend, colleague or neighbour are thinking of signing up for the run anyway, why not do it for us?  The money raised will mean so much to our appeal and you’ll be helping fund the fight against male cancers in Manchester.  If we meet our target, that’s £10,000 going directly into the pot for research and male health awareness projects.

All we ask at this stage is for you to register your interest with us by emailing contact@menmatterappeal.com.  Unfortunately we cannot secure places in the run, you will have to sign-up yourself but we will keep you up to date with the application dates and send you a pack including a Men Matter t-shirt and sponsorship forms nearer the time.

Please join us in this great event.  100 runners + £100 sponsorship = £10,000 for Men Matter and saving male lives.

Entries are now being taken for the run.  You can confirm your place by visiting the official Bupa Great Run website.

Men Matter are the nominated benefactor of the race meet, hosted by our friends Real Radio XS (formally know as Rock Radio).  The popular Manchester rock music station are big supporters of our appeal and yet again, they’re doing the business in raising money and awareness for Men Matter.

A portion of entrance fees are being donated to the appeal and we will be taking our buckets down to the track as well as handing out specially designed business cards to help raise awareness of male cancers.  We hope for a good turn out and to bring home the important message of self check and visiting your GP if you are worried about anything.

REMEMBER: early detection = long term survival.

He decided to support Men Matter and through fundraising efforts at the club and along with his fellow members, Phil collected £1,218.83.

In addition, he also donated £623.00 as a result of taking part in the 2010 Great Manchester Run, making a grand total of just over £1,840 from his year as Captain.

Well done and thank you Phil!