CANCER CHARITY IS USING STAR POWER TO RAISE AWARENESS
IT’S a dream line-up of supporters for any charity – Sam Heughan, Sir Paul McCartney, Brad Pitt and Eric Clapton to name just a few.
When you are a tiny outfit in Clydebank with just one member of staff, it is all the more mindblowing.
But Cahonas Scotland, set up by Ritchie Marshall in 2009 to educate men about testicular cancer, is no ordinary charity.
Its light-hearted approach, social media-focused drive and humorous online campaigns #checkyourbawballs, at Christmas, for example – which have reached more than 100 million people, have helped to spread a vital health message to young men across the country.
“Everything we do is aimed at encouraging men to check themselves regularly, because if testicular cancer is caught early enough, it has a 98 per cent cure rate,” says Ritchie.
April is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, and Ritchie is hoping people will get behind the charity which, like most across the country, has had a difficult 12 months.
The former postman, who is from Cardross, decided to study advertising and PR in his 20s.
“As part of my course there was a public speaking module, and I had no idea what subject to choose,” he says. “I read something about testicular cancer, and was pretty taken aback I knew nothing about it. I was a young man, absolutely in the age group most affected, and yet I’d never heard of it. It seemed incredible to me so I thought – this is what I’ll talk about.”
The feedback he received was fantastic, says Ritchie.
“Most of these guys were a bit younger than me – at 24, I was a mature student – and they had never heard of testicular cancer and the need to check themselves regularly either,” he says.
After working in the charity sector and realising there was a big gap in testicular cancer awareness in Scotland, that Ritchie, now 42, decided to set up Cahonas Scotland.
“Because of my background in PR, I understood what kind of campaign would work,” he says. “The first year we did Loosen Up, we asked celebrities to donated ties – based around the idea we wanted men to stop being ‘tonguetied’ about their health.”
He grins: “Just a few days after we launched, it I got a call from Ricky Gervais offering us the tie he wore to present the Golden Globes.
“I think I realised it had really taken off when Scarlett Johansson’s people called me about a donation. But it was difficult in those early days – I had a full time job alongside running the charity, and it was hard work.”
In fact, Ritchie ran Cahonas Scotland on a completely voluntary basis for eight years, only becoming chief executive when operations grew to such an extent it needed a fulltime commitment.
“Chief executive is a big fancy title,” he smiles. “Really, it doesn’t mean much has changed. I’m still running about doing everything.
“We are a tiny charity, so we don’t have resources and people to carry out research but I hope we’re having an impact.
“The work we are doing in schools is key and I am proud of what we have achieved so far. For me, it’s very simple – at school, kids are taught to look both ways when they cross the road. “It’s drilled into them, it becomes second nature. So if we were to teach boys and girls to check themselves regularly, once a month, it would become a habit and that could really help with the early detection of cancer. It’s as simple as that.”