People of Altrincham rallied together and painted their town blue in the hope of spreading awareness for testicular and prostate cancer.
Cafès, cinemas, restaurants and shops all displayed blue art in their windows and premises in support of the cause.
The inaugural Painting Altrincham Blue campaign was the idea of local accountant and ultra-marathon athlete Tony Collier after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 2017.
Tony, a grandad of four, said: “Painting Altrincham Blue is not just about me, it is about all men, it is about making sure men speak up if they are struggling whether it be physically or mentally.”
Collier decided to act after his own experiences with prostate cancer – and discovering how common the condition is in older men, with 52,000 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.
He went to the doctor in May 2017, after experiencing pain while training for a marathon.
What he suspected might be a groin strain was, in fact, stage four terminal cancer. He was 59 years old.
“When you are told you have cancer it is devastating, when you are told it is incurable it is absolutely indescribable,” said Tony, who was told he had likely been asymptomatic for 10 years before his diagnosis.
Although devastated, Tony refused to wallow in his pity and decided to dedicate his life to helping men in a similar situation to his own.
This is what sparked his idea to paint Altrincham Blue.
Every October a whole week is dedicated to raising awareness for breast cancer yet there was none of prostate or testicular cancer despite the mortality rates being higher for prostate cancer. Every year in the UK, 12,000 men die of prostate cancer – that is one man every 45 minutes.
Therefore in collaboration with Prostate Cancer UK Tony decided he wanted to paint his home town blue for a whole week.
Tony stresses the importance of raising awareness for men’s wellbeing, Tony said: “I came up with the idea to paint Altrincham Blue to raise awareness for men’s health issues … awareness of all these illnesses truly saves lives and is such an important message.”
Around the whole town everyone came together to support even local school children painting art.
Art displayed around the town was painted by local schools with 40 pieces made by pupils from Oldfield Brow primary school that were seen in shop windows.
A competition was also launched at Wellington Secondary School; the winning painting which signified men’s mental health struggles was displayed at four train stations – Altrincham, Hale, Stockport and Knutsford.
Abby Smith, 17, has her artwork displayed at Hale train station and was honoured to be involved in the charitable cause.
Smith said: “I wanted to take part in ‘Painting Altrincham Blue to help raise awareness for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mens mental health.
“My art work represents mens mental health and the attributes that come with it.”
“The first time I saw my artwork in Hale I was proud that my artwork was involved to represent such an important cause and helping raise awareness.”
The Con-Club, a very popular Altrincham bar, got involved and invented ‘The Tony’ , a bright blue cocktail that was on offer for a week.
A small contribution of from the proceeds went to Prostate Cancer UK which funds research into prostate cancer in hope of one day finding a cure.
Jo Vanderhook, a manager at the Con Club said: “Tony campaigns tirelessly to spread awareness for men’s health therefore we could not have been happier to support Tony spread such an important message.”
Even cafės got involved and created blue cupcakes in the name of the cause.
Although the cause was for more than just raising awareness for testicular and prostate cancer it also highlighted men’s health and wellbeing as a whole.
Tony said: “I did not want this to just be about me so it was not just about prostate cancer it is about testicular cancer, prostate cancer and men’s mental health.”
Currently one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime this figure raises even higher within the black community to one in four.
It is suspected this is down to their genetic profile which allows the cancer to spread more aggressively although the research into this is still ongoing.
Tony is an ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK and regularly travels around the North West hosting talks about his story in hope that other men will get tested.
In his talks Tony talks passionately about the testing for prostate cancer which is a simple PSA blood test – although it is a common misconception that the first test is a rectum examination.
In his work Tony is making sure that all men are aware that they are entitled to an annual PSA blood test that could pick up signs they have prostate cancer – something Tony himself did not know until it was too late.
Tony said: “I have dedicated my life to making sure all men know that they have the right to a PSA blood test that may save lives so that people do not end up in the same position as me.
“I was not aware that there was a PSA test available and if I had this done every year from 50 to 59 my cancer would have been found at a much earlier stage.”
There is currently no screening for prostate cancer, as there is for cervical cancer, as it is thought not to be accurate enough.
The PSA blood is known to sometimes give false negatives and therefore give false reassurance to patients. Around three in four men with a raised PSA level will not have cancer but around one in seven men with a normal PSA level will have prostate cancer, according to the NHS.
Prostate Cancer UK works alongside the NHS to ensure men have access to breakthrough treatments and tests in hope of one day “stopping prostate cancer ruining the lives of men and their families.”
Treatment for the cancer includes regular observation and testing if it is found during the earlier stages and believed not to be much harm at this stage.
If the cancer, like Tony’s, is found when it is more developed, treatment will be a combination of hormone treatment and radiotherapy which comes with unfortunate side effects such as are low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, hot flushes and weight gain.
When he was diagnosed Tony was told that his time was running short and he would only live for another two years. Five years after his diagnosis, he has proved doctors wrong, and had the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Tony is still an avid runner and is currently pushing himself to run 5k to raise money for MOVE, a charity that supports young people and teenagers with cancer to encourage them to move. Tony is now on day 337 of completing his 5k runs.
He stresses the importance of movement for all round wellbeing.
Altrincham was the first ever town to be painted blue to raise awareness for prostate cancer and the first year was a great success with over £650 raised on just one fundraising day.
Tony hopes to repeat next year and make the attraction even bigger and better year on year.
