Prostate charities

"There are over 100 prostate cancer charities"

FALSE: There aren't that many of them - and for the most part their work doesn't overlap.

This is in fact the case with almost all the charity types we have looked at. We have looked hard for proof that there are too many charities and that many reproduce each others work - but it's very hard to find.

That said, prostate charities do seem to be proliferating, and you'd never guess from their names what exactly most of them do; in fact charities' names are one of the most confusing aspects of the charity world.

We've written detailed profiles of six of the biggest players in the prostate-cancer field. A quick flick through Guidestar's Register of Charities shows that there are dozens more. These tend to be small, local players, concerned with funding a particular hospital's medical research, or providing support to local patients.

But even the bigger outfits are small. The Prostate Cancer Charity (see profile), the largest, spends just under £4m a year, split between research grants and patient support. Compared to Breakthrough Breast Cancer (see profile), which shells out just under £20m a year on similar work, it's clear that prostate charities have a fundraising mountain to climb.

"These charities seem destined to keep a low profile"

The situation isn't helped by the names these organizations give themselves. A grand-sounding outfit like the Prostate Research Campaign (see profile) turns out to be one of the smallest charities on our books, and the Prostate Cancer Research Centre (see profile) is rather less than the behemoth it sounds, with an income of just under £400,000 a year.

But more important is the fact that none of these outfits has the serious money necessary to invest in publicity or fundraising. And unless there's a dramatic change, this means prostate cancer - and its associated charities - are destined to keep a low profile.

> More Watchdog articles
> Our prostate cancer charity listings

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Reader's comments

Prostate Charities

Submitted by ehalls on Tue, 29/01/2008 - 3:11pm.

I would just like to say a huge thank you for highlighting the difference between prostate and breast cancer charities. There is a real inequality, especially when you consider that prostate cancer affects almost as many men as breast cancer affects women. We launched a big campaign fronted by the late, great Bob Monkhouse last summer to also highlight this issue, and to encourage men to get out there and shout as loudly as women have shouted about breast cancer. We need much more awareness, and your article can only help.

Emma Halls
Chief Executive
The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation

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