Football clubs across the north of Scotland unite in bid to raise £100,000 for new urological cancer unit

Press and Journal

21-05-2025

Football clubs across the north and north-east are coming together to support a new unit to improve the diagnosis and treatment of urological cancers.
Charity UCAN Aberdeen, along with Friends of Anchor, is trying to raise £2.5million for the new Swift Urological Response and Evaluation (SURE) clinical unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary which would help speed up the diagnostic process for bladder, kidney, prostate, testicular and penile cancers.
In a bid to help, north-east businessmen Mike Macaulay, Pat Machray and Ian Ord have come up with the Kick the Ball campaign, which aims to raise £100,000 and will see football clubs taking on a cycle challenge in the month of June.
All 18 Breedon Highland League clubs are set to take part as well as every team that is a member of the Aberdeenshire and District FA, which includes nine Highland League sides plus SPFL outfits Aberdeen, Cove Rangers, Peterhead and Elgin City as well as junior clubs like Hermes, Dyce, Stonehaven and Aberdeen University.
Each team will be taking on their own cycle challenge next month, either on the road or on spinning bikes, while world-record breaking cyclist Mark Beaumont is also supporting the initiative.
On July 1 the man who broke the record for cycling around the globe will be accompanied by around 20 cyclists on a route around the north-east visiting some of the clubs taking part in the campaign.
Later that day 'An Evening with Mark Beaumont' is to be held at Thainstone Exchange.
Mr Macaulay and Mr Machray have both had prostate cancer, while Mr Ord has had prostate and testicular cancer.
Explaining how the campaign idea came about, Mr Machray said: 'We've all had cancer and we've all had experience of UCAN.
'We wanted to give something back and, having heard about the SURE unit, we felt it was something we'd like to try to help get off the ground with a fundraiser.
'We're also hoping to raise awareness and encourage folk to go and get checked as well because with Ian, Mike and myself none of us had symptoms.
'It seems to be the case with a lot of people that there's no symptoms, so trying to encourage people to get checked is very important.
'The point of the whole exercise, and of the SURE unit, is for folk to get diagnosed earlier, because the earlier you find it the better.'
Mr Ord, who will be taking part in the cycle with Mr Beaumont, added: 'UCAN has a history of pioneering. They brought robotic surgery to Aberdeen, which dramatically changed how you're treated.
'The new unit would set a new benchmark for the whole of the UK, it would be the first place of its kind.
'UCAN's ambition in terms of what they want to do is incredible, so to be able to help provide the means to do that is great.'
Mr Macaulay, who is the chairman of Highland League side Inverurie Locos, has been thrilled with the reaction from clubs.
He said: 'The response from the clubs has been brilliant. Nobody in the Highland League or the Aberdeenshire FA has said no to getting involved, which is great.
'We're hoping the clubs will involve their communities in it as much as they can.
'Football clubs are a big part of the community and this is an important thing for every community in the region.
'It's also great to have a world-record breaker in Mark Beaumont supporting us. He's sponsored by John Clark Motor Group and we asked Christopher Clark (managing director of John Clark Motor Group) if he could ask Mark about supporting this and he's been enthusiastic about helping us from the get-go.'
Justine Royle is chair of UCAN, and also a consultant urologist, she called the Kick the Ball campaign a 'lovely idea' and outlined the benefits the SURE unit – which it is hoped can be up and running in 2026 – will provide to cancer patients.
She said: 'At the moment the diagnostic process for urological cancers takes longer than we would like.
'Patients have to attend multiple consultations. Take prostate cancer as an example, they might come for an MRI scan one day, a biopsy a couple of weeks later and then a consultation and other tests after that.
'It can be four trips to hospital within the diagnostic process.
'If we can get rid of at least a couple of those, for example, having your MRI, biopsy and a consultation all on the same day that's a real benefit to patients because you reduce a lot of the waiting.
'One of the things patients will tell you is that the most anxiety provoking thing is the waiting to find out.
'It's not the diagnosis, it's waiting and not knowing what you've got.
'So if we can shorten that process then that anxiety will be reduced. We want to get the patient where they need to be faster than we're currently able to do.
'With the SURE unit our capability will be increased and we'll be able to do more on a day when a patient comes to us.'