Hear our Volunteers’ Stories
This week marks the 41st Volunteers’ Week and we want to use this time to celebrate our amazing volunteers!
Our volunteers help us in many different ways from attending cheque presentations, providing talks, cheering you on at the Kiltwalk cheer points and helping around in the office. Our volunteers are invaluable to us and we want to give them the spotlight this week. We hear from seven of our volunteers and their stories on volunteering with Prostate Scotland.
Colin Weir, Toolbox Talk Volunteer
My name is Colin Weir, I’m 68 and I volunteer with Prostate Scotland, where I support Mae Bell with delivering the charity’s Toolbox Workshop. I am also a Board Member with Edinburgh & Lothian Prostate Cancer Support Group, which is a self-help group managed by and for men with prostate cancer, their families and carers. I have been volunteering with both charities for around 18 months after being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in September 2022.
What have you enjoyed most about your time volunteering?
Having the opportunity to fill in the gaps around people’s knowledge of prostate disease and prostate cancer. This has given me a great sense of fulfilment and purpose.
What benefits have you experienced personally?
The satisfaction of knowing that if, after delivering the TBWS presentation, only one person goes for a PSA test, then that’s potentially one more person who will be in a better position for possible early detection of Prostate Cancer.
Would you recommend volunteering (with your organisation or generally) to others?
Absolutely, volunteering has personally provided me with a real sense of purpose. I genuinely feel that I am helping to make a difference. It allows me to directly impact the people that I meet by being in a position to provide factual information, which helps them come to an informed decision around prostate cancer and prostate disease symptoms.
What would you say to anyone who is thinking about volunteering.
Don’t hesitate, just do it. You can contribute to a cause you are passionate about and make a tangible difference, It’s hugely rewarding.
Derek Brown – Toolbox Workshop Volunteer
My name is Derek, I’m 72 years old and started volunteering with Prostate Scotland in July 2018. I also have two other voluntary roles with organisations called Artlink (since January 2015) and the Scottish Seniors Computer Club (since June 2014). Artlink escort people to events that they can’t manage to attend themselves. The SSCC provide help to people over 50 years with devices such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, Kindles etc.
I retired in 2013 and was keen to use my spare time to give a little back as well as adding structure to my newly found “freedom”! I find volunteering extremely fulfilling and rewarding.
My involvement with Prostate Scotland came about following me being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2016. I was fortunate enough to be caught early and cured with surgery. Consequently, I was keen to help spread the word about the benefits of early diagnosis so go out doing “Toolbox Workshops” with Mae Bell from the charity delivering the “case study” element to her talks.
Another of my volunteer roles with Prostate Scotland is being a patient representative on PAGES. PAGES is the Prostate Scotland Advisory Group. This group advises on, reads and reviews all publications being developed for patients diagnosed with prostate disease and prostate cancer.
I get tremendous satisfaction from helping others in life, especially because I feel that I’ve been extremely fortunate over the years. Consequently, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend volunteering to anyone who can spare some free time and use their life skills to make a difference to people who may need help or support.
David Astill, Volunteer Member of PAGES Committee
I volunteer with Prostate Scotland as a member of the PAGES Committee. I assist by reading through the booklets written and edited by experts to give a patient’s viewpoint of terminology, layout, approach, etc.
What Charity/Organisation/Group do you volunteer with?
- Prostate Scotland – PAGES Committee
- Innovative Health Development Partnership – Part of Public Health Scotland
- Cancer Governance and Strategy Group – Fife NHS
- Prostate Cancer Improvement Pathway – Fife NHS
- “Assistance” to a Psychology student doing a PhD in “Effects of Prostate Cancer on the Masculinity of Men” – Edinburgh University
- Recently asked if I could be involved in a Research Project into a new innovative Scanning Technique to diagnose Prostate Cancer.
I am thankful that I have and can continue to be involved in several volunteering roles associated with prostate cancer. Sometimes, it’s simply attending meetings. Others require reviewing booklets. Some allow me to get involved in research design/ questionnaire reviewing/reading chapters of a PhD thesis, etc. One aspect involved me working alongside a retired GP doing a statistical research project on cancer diagnosis for his Data Management degree. It’s a very wide range of Prostate Cancer involvement, the majority being extremely enjoyable.
How long have you been volunteering with them?
For Prostate Scotland, it’s about 5 years.
Why did you decide to begin volunteering?
My cancer journey was quite eventful and rather bumpy! I had a Radical Prostatectomy by Robotic Surgery, then 15 months later the cancer returned, which led to 33 sessions of radiotherapy and 2.5 years of hormone treatment. Thankfully, I am in excellent health with blood tests every 6 months.
With a great sense of thankfulness and the variety of treatments that I experienced, I wanted to get involved to help individual patients on their journey and various organisations involved in diagnosis and treatment. I was grateful to be involved with Prostate Scotland because they are an excellent organisation, totally dedicated to supporting and assisting patients and their families, providing user-friendly and accurate information free of charge. They seem to be able to get the experts in each aspect of Prostate Cancer to give their time to contribute to much-needed information booklets. I am proud to be part of a team of dedicated, expert individuals.
What have you enjoyed most about your time volunteering?
Learning about the plethora of new diagnostic techniques and treatment methodologies and then being able to share this exciting information with men at various stages of their prostate cancer journey… to give them an increased sense of assurance and hope.
What benefits have you experienced personally?
I have learned so much about the existing diagnostics/treatments, but I am delighted that so much research is ongoing in this important field to make a greater impact on prostate cancer cure and management. Hopefully, more men can be identified earlier and gain the bespoke treatment they require, with clinicians who are 100% committed to seeing more investment in successful innovative approaches.
Would you recommend volunteering (with your organisation or generally) to others?
Certainly, some surviving prostate cancer patients are reluctant to speak about their experience, even when asked to complete a questionnaire for a research project, even more so in a face-to-face chat. These men will perhaps never wish to become involved in volunteering, which I understand.
However, for those men who may have had an inclination or thought about volunteering but have reservations, I would readily suggest they speak to Prostate Scotland or a local/national prostate cancer support group to express their interest and ask to speak to someone about their reservations about how they could be involved.
Don’t leave it too late. A recent experience is very important, but equally, a distant experience brings hope to those concerned about its impact on lifestyle/choices and longevity.
What would you say to anyone who is thinking about volunteering?
Talk to a volunteer who they know or ask an organisation if they could put you in contact with an existing volunteer so you can talk freely and check if it’s for them.
You can give as much as you want or as little. Prostate Scotland has been excellent, never overburdening or demanding time, and giving plenty of time to complete tasks, etc.
Anything else you’d like to add?
The range of volunteering I am involved in provides a great variety and an amazing crossover of information and knowledge. This adds to a personal sense of usefulness in being able to contribute to helping in various aspects of Prostate Cancer awareness, diagnosis, and treatment.
Gordon McMurray, Document Reviewer
My name is Gordon McMurray, and I’m volunteering with Prostate Scotland as a reviewer for a variety of documents, including internal guides, procedures, and public-facing websites.
What Charity/Organisation/Group do you volunteer with?
I currently volunteer with several organisations, essentially providing similar input. These include Prostate Scotland, which is geographically nearest to me. I’m also volunteering as a Campaigns Ambassador with CRUK (political lobbying and awareness), a Lay Reviewer and Member of the Readers’ Panel for Northern Cancer Voices (patient and NHS literature), and with Prostate Cancer UK (lay patient-facing documentation reviews, ad hoc calls for review of branding, plus I’m a trained member of the PCUK Peer Support Team, providing telephone support to patients, their partners and carers). I’ve also been involved in supporting and reviewing a PhD student’s thesis on the psychology of prostate cancer (originally introduced to me by Prof Alan McNeill). I also undertake awareness-raising activities as part of an informal group working on LinkedIn, trying to simplify literature for patients and interacting with medics, NHS staff, scientists and suppliers of screening and other tests. However, my primary aim is to promote screening for higher-risk prostate cancer cases.
How long have you been volunteering with them?
I became involved with Prostate Scotland fairly recently, from late 2024 onwards. I’ve been with CRUK and Northern Cancer Voices for around a year. PCUK has been nearly two years, and I completed peer support training in November last year.
Why did you decide to begin volunteering?
I had been a prostate cancer surgical patient under Prof Alan McNeill at the Western General, undergoing robotic prostatectomy in April 2023 (diagnosed in September 2022). Once I’d recovered enough to clear the fog of surgery, I wanted to do something to stimulate my brain. As much of my working life involved detailed investigatory, forensic and regulatory work, the attraction of doing something to give back on one hand, and reclaim my own mental strength on the other, was extremely strong. It’s been both rewarding and stimulating, as every day is a school day.
What have you enjoyed most about your time volunteering?
Interacting with organisations that are working in a field of interest to me. I have a son and grandson and wish to ensure they don’t suffer the problems of there being no screening programme for men. What I’ve enjoyed most has been being able to simplify medical terminology in a way that makes life easier for those undergoing treatment. The peer support work at PCUK has also been hugely rewarding, as you get a chance to make a real difference to someone struggling with diagnosis or treatment. Overall, it’s been intellectually as well as emotionally rewarding.
What benefits have you experienced personally?
Recovery of my own mental health after the dark times of cancer treatment. Getting the chance to learn more about prostate cancer and the hurdles that patients face has been hugely interesting. I’ve also met a good many people in the medical, scientific and patient fields who have become friends. This has been hugely helpful to someone who was previously isolated as cancer took over their professional and personal life.
Do you have any stories you could share about your time volunteering?
I think I’ve touched on this before. Probably the most rewarding has been being able to speak with other men on a telephone support basis, to help them mitigate the worry, fear and anxiety associated with their prostate cancer journey. One man I spoke with was clearly unable to process his diagnosis and was at the point where his ability to process the vast amount of information being thrown at him by the NHS was overwhelmed. We spent a few hours chatting over several weeks and I’m happy to say he calmed down enough to go through a successful operation and is now back at work, recovered and enjoying life. That is the kind of result that makes this all worthwhile. Likewise, finding medic writing to ask if they can use my redrafts has been an interesting role reversal.
Would you recommend volunteering (with your organisation or generally) to others?
Absolutely. It’s not for everyone as you do have to keep up to date with developments in the field, but if you do, it can be extremely rewarding on a personal level. Just make sure you’re at the stage in your own recovery where you have the bandwidth to accommodate the work and extra activities.
What would you say to anyone who is thinking about volunteering?
Wait until at least 12 months after your operation or treatment and get your mind clear as to what you want to do with your spare time. If, like me, work has fallen away and you have time on your hands, figure out where the best place for your skills might be. Many organisations offer low-commitment roles, such as doing occasional documentation reviews; others require more commitment, such as the peer support (training, plus up to 4 hours on calls over 4 weeks). There’s something there for everyone.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Prostate Scotland provided me with a booklet that stayed by my side throughout my entire cancer journey. My surgeon is a trustee and has done a huge amount professionally and under the auspices of Prostate Scotland to advance support for men and their families. If you have time to give, think about supporting this great organisation. Whether fundraising, volunteering in the office, etc., there can be a rewarding role for you there.