HEALTH MATTERS

DR Mike Clark, GP with High Street Surgery, Macclesfield and clinical lead for men’s health at NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG

This Movember I’m urging people to grow a ‘tash, host an event and get moving.

Movember was started by two friends in Australia in the pub one night.

Back in 2003, they decided that encouraging blokes to grow a moustache and seek sponsorship would be a great way to raise money for men’s health.

Since then, Movember has funded 1,250 projects around the world while more than five million people have joined the effort.

Not only have they done astonishing work overseas with projects such as True North, a global care project that aims to improve quality of life for men with prostate cancer both during and after diagnosis, but they have also developed centres of excellence in both Belfast and Manchester.

Alongside this they have funded more than £2m worth of projects and pilot studies in the UK to help find a cure for cancer.

Movember has three main areas of interest: mental health, testicular and prostate cancer – all being as important as each other.

In the case of prostate cancer, early detection can increase your chances of living beyond five years by 62 per cent reducing to 45 per cent if you’re black or have a family history of it, as you’re two-and-ahalf times as likely to get prostate cancer.

If you’re aged 50 or over you should get your prostate tested.

It’s the most common cancer among men with one in eight being diagnosed.

But Movember has pushed progress forward 50 years through thinking differently, collaborating and investing quickly into what works.

We can’t afford to wait. For more information on Movember, mental health, prostate cancer, testicular cancer and the ways you can help, visit uk.movember. com/?home.

HOMES For Heroes, Sure Start, our NHS – our country has a proud reputation for investing in our future success.

Now – after years of division and failure – Labour will bring back ambitious initiatives to improve people’s lives and make Macclesfield a better place to live.

It’s easy to forget that many young families, just starting in Macclesfield, have never known a time when:

The town was thriving.

People had extra money in their pockets.

Two people working could get a mortgage.

Taking the train didn’t cost a quarter of a person’s pay.

Prescriptions were free.

Education was free. It doesn’t have to be like this, and change is happening. Our area has the resourcefulness to thrive.

Rather than being beaten by austerity, we see motivated young people who want to stay in our area and transform it. New Labour and Independent councillors who care for where they live turning Cheshire East around. In the new town council, I have the privilege to support our communities.

From their ideas come exciting proposals: planting a tree for every child born in 2020, making local bus travel an affordable flat-rate, building a new South Park pavilion.

Now we need real national investment. The enduring symbols of our area cannot be an empty shopping centre, homelessness, overworked people stuck in grid-locked traffic, our most vulnerable left on A&E beds.

Forget the Conservatives’ bluster and bravado. We see their record of failure. Their empty promises are worthless. Labour is ready for an election. We see the opportunity to stand up for Macclesfield to fight for the future and win.