Latest news with #RobinCancerTrust
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Colchester entrepreneur launches 'world's best football dice game'
A Colchester entrepreneur has launched which he describes as the "world's best football dice game" after teaming up with a Colchester cancer charity. Pete Gore, founder and designer of Feverpitch Football, has teamed up with Robin Cancer Trust to allow people to donate when they buy the game. It is described as a "fast-paced dice game that brings the thrill of the world's most popular sport to the palm of your hand". Mr Gore says this "isn't just another table top game". Founder - Entrepreneur Pete Gore (Image: MatchFit Agency) The game is conveniently pocket-sized and designed to play anytime, anywhere for friends who can come together over the thrill of a footy game in an instant. Using just two dice, one for on-pitch play and one for goalmouth action, it is quick, easy to learn, and guarantees non-stop excitement for all ages. Inside - What comes with the game (Image: MatchFit Agency) Tackle, pass, and shoot your way to victory at home with the family, out and about with your mates, or over the desk at work. He said: 'Feverpitch is not just another tabletop game, it's a celebration of the global spirit of football, distilled into a fast-paced, easy-to-learn experience. "With only two dice, Feverpitch offers a unique twist that sets it apart from other tabletop games, making it incredibly accessible and fun.' The game is also promoting the importance of Colchester based charity, the Robin Cancer Trust (RCT). The charity is the UK's only testicular, ovarian and germ cell cancer charity. Via a mutual friend, Pete met Toby Freeman, the founder of RCT to strike up a partnership offering buyers of the game an opportunity to donate to the charity. Delighted - Founder of the Robin Cancer Trust, Toby Freeman (Image: MatchFit Agency) Pete said: 'Toby talks a lot about balls, our game is about (foot)balls and so, it seemed like a good fit. We had a coffee and agreed to help each other out.' Mr Freeman spoke of the importance of raising awareness in such a way and how great the partnership is He said: "It's a family game but its predominantly aimed at guys and our message is all about balls. "I love how accessible it is, not only is the game incredibly accessible but hopefully through this we can make cancer education and awareness really accessible. "Especially in men it's about getting these important conversations going." To find out more about the game and to purchase, visit
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Runner takes on challenge dressed as testicles
A charity fundraiser has run 150km (90 miles) along the length of Hadrian's Wall dressed as a pair of testicles to try reducing the stigma around testicular cancer. Toby Freeman from Colchester is the founder of Robin Cancer Trust, a charity set up in memory of his older brother who died from testicular cancer in 2011. His latest challenge - part of a bid to run 500km (311 miles) in total - has seen him run coast to coast from Cumbria to Tyneside across three days dressed in his eye-catching costume. "It was absolutely incredible," said the 35-year-old. "Some of the livestock were a bit wary of the giant testicles, but we avoided them as we navigated through." Mr Freeman said the "big ballsy challenge" was intended to "break the stigma, reduce the embarrassment, and save lives" around testicular and ovarian cancers. "Testicular cancer took my brother, now I'm taking on marathons, ultramarathons, and Hadrian's Wall in a giant testicle costume to raise £240,000," he said. "I chose to do this, I'm able to do this - health is such a privilege and that's denied to so many. "There was this overwhelming gratitude for the support and the donations, all the conversations, but also what I'm able to do." "We need to take stock and be appreciative of what our bodies can do while we have the opportunity." As part of the challenge, he has already run marathons in London, Brighton, and completed the Great Manchester Run. He will continue in the coming weeks with the Thames Park Ultramarathon, culminating in the Big Ballsy Ultramarathon in November. Robin Cancer Trust, founded in 2012, has the aim of raising awareness of cancer symptoms at an early stage, and also educates and supports young people. On its website, it describes itself as "the UK's only testicular, ovarian and germ cell cancer charity". Cancer Research UK says germ cells are cells in the body that develop into sperm and eggs, and that germ cell tumours most often develop in the ovary or testicle because this is where most germ cells are. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Cancer conference held to get people talking Get to know your balls and prostate, urge cancer survivors Robin Cancer Trust
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Man dressed as testicles runs Hadrian's Wall for charity
A charity fundraiser has run 150km (90 miles) along the length of Hadrian's Wall dressed as a pair of testicles to try reducing the stigma around testicular Freeman from Colchester is the founder of Robin Cancer Trust, a charity set up in memory of his older brother who died from testicular cancer in latest challenge - part of a bid to run 500km (311 miles) in total - has seen him run coast to coast from Cumbria to Tyneside across three days dressed in his eye-catching costume."It was absolutely incredible," said the 35-year-old. "Some of the livestock were a bit wary of the giant testicles, but we avoided them as we navigated through."Mr Freeman said the "big ballsy challenge" was intended to "break the stigma, reduce the embarrassment, and save lives" around testicular and ovarian cancers."Testicular cancer took my brother, now I'm taking on marathons, ultramarathons, and Hadrian's Wall in a giant testicle costume to raise £240,000," he said."I chose to do this, I'm able to do this - health is such a privilege and that's denied to so many."There was this overwhelming gratitude for the support and the donations, all the conversations, but also what I'm able to do.""We need to take stock and be appreciative of what our bodies can do while we have the opportunity." As part of the challenge, he has already run marathons in London, Brighton, and completed the Great Manchester will continue in the coming weeks with the Thames Park Ultramarathon, culminating in the Big Ballsy Ultramarathon in Cancer Trust, founded in 2012, has the aim of raising awareness of cancer symptoms at an early stage, and also educates and supports young its website, it describes itself as "the UK's only testicular, ovarian and germ cell cancer charity".Cancer Research UK says germ cells are cells in the body that develop into sperm and eggs, and that germ cell tumours most often develop in the ovary or testicle because this is where most germ cells are. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Record
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Man dressed as giant testicles to run 500km all over the UK
Toby Freeman is running a series of marathons across the UK dressed as a giant pair of testicles to raise awareness of testicular cancer following the tragic death if his brother A man is donning a massive pair of testicles to run marathons across the UK, in order to raise awareness for testicular cancer. Toby Freeman set up the Robin Cancer Trust in memory of his brother, Robin, who tragically passed away after being diagnosed with the disease at just 24 in December 2011. Now, Toby is committed to educating others about the condition and supporting those affected by it. In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, the 35-year-old from Colchester said: "Going back to 2011, my brother was diagnosed with a really rare form of testicular cancer. And my brother was fit, healthy, active - didn't smoke, barely drank and yet he was diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer. "Long, long, long story short, we lost Rob 10 months later and we decided that if someone who was as health conscious and fit and active as Rob could be diagnosed, that it could happen to anyone. So we really wanted to focus on awareness education and support so that no other family went through what we did basically, so that was the idea for the Robin Cancer Trust. "Obviously with these things, you start with family and friends and it's about Rob's story, and people are involved because they love you and they want to support that. Then as it's grown over the years, more people have been touched by the mission, by the story, and it's become about everyone else. All the people that we've helped, the community that we've built, all the people out there that we've supported." In 2025, Toby is passionately taking on a series of running challenges, with an intent not just to fundraise for the trust but also to spark vital discussions about cancer screening among youngsters. His distinctive attire while running has also unsurprisingly been a conversation starter. Toby added: "I'm a runner, I'm not a runner on this level by any means, you know? I can run and I wanted to do some challenges this year, and then I said if I'm gonna do this I need to lead by example. I'm always talking about raising awareness, reducing embarrassment, saving lives, and I thought the best way to do that is all of our campaigns run through humour, right? "We think the best way to engage a young audience is to make them laugh. That lowers everyone's barriers and then we can have these really important health conversations. So I thought what would I think would be absolutely hilarious would be running around like a giant ball bag. "Thankfully my team were on board with this and it's grown into this challenge - this 500 kilometre challenge. I'm trying to do events all over the UK, not just where I'm based. You know, I've done Brighton. I've done London. I'm doing the Hadrian's Wall challenge. "I'm doing an ultramarathon after that in September. I'm trying to do races all across the UK because this is something we need to get out. Absolutely everywhere. But yeah, the idea just came about was how can we make this as big and bold and silly with a really important message behind it as well? "And that's been a really cool thing seeing people get that. There's the initial hilarity of, 'What is this person doing? Oh, I actually get why they're doing this.' That's really important, and I think there's a real need for guys especially to have these sorts of conversations." Regarding public reaction, Toby explained that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. He said: "People love it. I was lucky enough to run Brighton and London, and not only the running community absolutely love it because I think they respect how hard it is running in the costume, but they get the message as well. "But the crowds have been unbelievable. People just love it and it's exactly what you said, it's the shock value. It's going from, 'What am I witnessing right now?' to immediately understanding the why. Because you know, it's quite obvious that it's for testicular cancer as well. "So yeah, you get the cheers on both sides of respect for you doing something silly and challenging, but also why you're doing it, and it's been received so amazingly. The races have all been really great. London and Brighton both supported it. Gave me a platform to talk about it." Toby's 'My Big Ballsy Challenge' has seen him complete marathons in London and Brighton, with his sights now set on conquering Hadrian's Wall between June 12 and June 15. His efforts have so far raised £15,845 towards a £240,000 target for his charity, sparking numerous discussions about testicular cancer along the way. Yet, this isn't Toby's first quirky campaign. In 2019, he launched prosthetic testicles into the stratosphere during Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, and in 2021, he orchestrated a Zoom call with 250 men checking their testicles in a bid to set a world record. The following year saw him showcase the UK's largest pair of testicles on Manchester's I Love MCR billboard. Reflecting on his previous campaigns, Toby added: "Oh, yeah, we've done a fair few things. First one that comes to mind is we sent a pair of balls into space. We called it space balls, the campaign. That was to launch Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. That must have been pre-pandemic. "Seems like a long time ago. But yeah, we worked with the company to send a pair of balls into space. There's beautiful shots of like, the world curvature below with a pair of balls dangling above it. So that was really good fun. "We worked with I Love MCR in Manchester to create the world's biggest pair of balls on a digital billboard, so that was really good fun as well. Again, that was Testicular Cancer Awareness Month and then during the pandemic we brought... it was 250 guys from 25 different countries on five continents on Zoom to all check their balls at the same time. "So it was an unofficial world record because we couldn't get an official world record for it. But I hold on to that. I say no one else has brought that many people together to check their balls at one time. So that was yeah... we've done lots of things to be honest." Toby Freeman will run Hadrian's Wall between June 12 and June 15 as part of his Big Ballsy Challenge. You can find out more about his cause and donate on his Give As You Live page here. You can also find out more about the work of the Robin Cancer Trust here.
Daily Mirror
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I'm running 500km dressed as giant testicles – I always get the same response'
Toby Freeman has embarked on a number of marathons to raise money for the Robin Cancer Trust - and his truly unique attire has caught the attention of members of the public along the way A man dressed as a massive pair of testicles is running a number of marathons across the UK to raise awareness of the cancer. Toby Freeman founded the Robin Cancer Trust in tribute of his brother, Robin, who was tragically diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer and passed away at the age of 24 in December 2011. Now, the 35-year-old from Colchester is dedicated to raising awareness of the condition and helping those who find themselves diagnosed with it. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror about the foundation of the Robin Cancer Trust, Toby said: "Going back to 2011, my brother was diagnosed with a really rare form of testicular cancer. "And my brother was fit, healthy, active - didn't smoke, barely drank and yet he was diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer. Long, long, long story short, we lost Rob 10 months later and we decided that if someone who was as health conscious and fit and active as Rob could be diagnosed, that it could happen to anyone. "So we really wanted to focus on awareness education and support so that no other family went through what we did basically, so that was the idea for the Robin Cancer Trust. Obviously with these things, you start with family and friends and it's about Rob's story, and people are involved because they love you and they want to support that. "Then as it's grown over the years, more people have been touched by the mission, by the story, and it's become about everyone else. All the people that we've helped, the community that we've built, all the people out there that we've supported." In 2025, Toby has made it his mission to take part in a series of running challenges, not only to raise money for the trust but to also hold serious conversations with youngsters on the importance of screening for cancer. And his unique costume in which he has been running has certainly helped him to spark up said talks. He added: "I'm a runner, I'm not a runner on this level by any means, you know? I can run and I wanted to do some challenges this year, and then I said if I'm gonna do this I need to lead by example. I'm always talking about raising awareness, reducing embarrassment, saving lives, and I thought the best way to do that is all of our campaigns run through humour, right? "We think the best way to engage a young audience is to make them laugh. That lowers everyone's barriers and then we can have these really important health conversations. So I thought what would I think would be absolutely hilarious would be running around like a giant ball bag. "Thankfully my team were on board with this and it's grown into this challenge - this 500 kilometre challenge. I'm trying to do events all over the UK, not just where I'm based. You know, I've done Brighton. I've done London. I'm doing the Hadrian's Wall challenge. "I'm doing an ultramarathon after that in September. I'm trying to do races all across the UK because this is something we need to get out. Absolutely everywhere. But yeah, the idea just came about was how can we make this as big and bold and silly with a really important message behind it as well? "And that's been a really cool thing seeing people get that. There's the initial hilarity of, 'What is this person doing? Oh, I actually get why they're doing this.' That's really important, and I think there's a real need for guys especially to have these sorts of conversations." In terms of reception, Toby added that people have reacted to seeing the suit in overwhelmingly positive fashion. He said: "People love it. I was lucky enough to run Brighton and London, and not only the running community absolutely love it because I think they respect how hard it is running in the costume, but they get the message as well. "But the crowds have been unbelievable. People just love it and it's exactly what you said, it's the shock value. It's going from, 'What am I witnessing right now?' to immediately understanding the why. Because you know, it's quite obvious that it's for testicular cancer as well. "So yeah, you get the cheers on both sides of respect for you doing something silly and challenging, but also why you're doing it, and it's been received so amazingly. The races have all been really great. London and Brighton both supported it. Gave me a platform to talk about it." Dubbed 'My Big Ballsy Challenge', Toby has already completed marathons in London and Brighton, and his next challenge is running Hadrian's Wall - the 73-mile long structure that runs between Newcastle upon Tyne and Bowness-on-Solway - between June 12 and June 15. Thanks to his endeavours thus far, Toby has managed to raise £15,845 of his £240,000 target for his charity, while also engaging in countless conversations with members of the public regarding testicular cancer. However, it's not the first campaign that Toby has launched which has been a little out there. In 2019, Toby sent a pair of prosthetic testicles into space via a hydrogen balloon in support of Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. In 2021, he invited 250 men to check their testicles simultaneously via a Zoom call in an attempt to break a world record, and the following year, he helped display the UK's largest pair of testicles on I Love MCR's flagship Manchester billboard. Speaking about his past endeavours, Toby said: "Oh, yeah, we've done a fair few things. First one that comes to mind is we sent a pair of balls into space. We called it space balls, the campaign. That was to launch Testicular Cancer Awareness Month. That must have been pre-pandemic. "Seems like a long time ago. But yeah, we worked with the company to send a pair of balls into space. There's beautiful shots of like, the world curvature below with a pair of balls dangling above it. So that was really good fun. "We worked with I Love MCR in Manchester to create the world's biggest pair of balls on a digital billboard, so that was really good fun as well. Again, that was Testicular Cancer Awareness Month and then during the pandemic we brought… it was 250 guys from 25 different countries on five continents on Zoom to all check their balls at the same time. "So it was an unofficial world record because we couldn't get an official world record for it. But I hold on to that. I say no one else has brought that many people together to check their balls at one time. So that was yeah… we've done lots of things to be honest." Toby Freeman will run Hadrian's Wall between June 12 and June 15 as part of his Big Ballsy Challenge. You can find out more about his cause and donate on his Give As You Live page here. You can also find out more about the work of the Robin Cancer Trust here.
