Publish date: 3 March 2023
Parents and children are learning how much fun being physically active can be – at a sports project raising cancer awareness sparked in memory of a young sportsman who died of the disease.
Apollo Sports Club in Knowsley organises the physical health and well-being sessions – designed to get both children and their parents fitter through fun sports – and to offer health and nutrition advice. The three-hour sessions are part of a 12-week programme funded by Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance (CMCA), which also raises awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer.
Apollo Sports founder Joe Stocks was moved to launch the project as his brother Tommy died of leukaemia aged just 26. Tommy loved sport and was a talented footballer, playing for Liverpool until he was 18. He was treated at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre but passed away in 2014.
Joe said: “Raising awareness of cancer is very close to my heart and if I can prevent just one person from facing what happened to my brother that is my job done.
“We all know that being physically fitter is better for you and in our sports sessions we also include information about nutrition and knowing of the signs of cancer. But these sessions are all about fun – they are for children and their parents, playing sport together.
“We have some parents who attend who haven’t done sport for 20 years. We all know if you change that mind-set and start to exercise it is much easier to get into a better way of life, eating better and being more aware of your health.”
On offer at the Halewood Leisure Centre sessions are dodgeball, table tennis, football, basketball, badminton and other activities. There are professional sports coaches who can help to shape the sessions, which are free of charge, and about 50 people attend.
Joe added: “People can drop in and out at any time and there are lots of chairs around if people need a rest. There is no pressure to perform, it is nice and relaxed and unstructured. People are there just to have fun and it is really popular. It is great to see the same families coming back.”
The initiative is part of Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance’s Early Diagnosis Community Engagement programme which is working with voluntary sector umbrella organisations Warrington Voluntary Action, One Knowsley, and Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action to run a small grants programme where voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations can secure funding for projects.
The new initiative is funding around 30 grassroots projects across Knowsley, Halton and Warrington to spread cancer information within localities, including one helping primary school children connect with their families to deliver cancer awareness messages in Warrington.
Paula Kearns, Sector Resilience and Capacity Building Manager at One Knowsley, which supports organisations across the borough to raise cancer awareness through the CMCA-funded programme, said: “The aim is to reduce obesity, which is major cause of cancer. The sessions will also help in cancer prevention by spotting early signs and also signposting our cohort to people and medical professionals who can help.”
Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance project manager Moray Hayman, who leads the programme, said: “This initiative seeks to support local communities to reduce their risk of dying from cancer, by improving community understanding and awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer and encouraging appropriate health-seeking behaviour.
“We are also encouraging more people who experience cancer to be supported to achieve emotional wellbeing and to reduce stigma and discrimination relating to cancer diagnosis.
“By working with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, the scheme focuses on improving knowledge of the signs and symptoms of cancer within local communities, encouraging more people to go for NHS screening when they are invited and to reduce inequalities in access to high-quality cancer treatment.”