International Men’s Health Week (14th – 20th June) is a worldwide week of focus on men’s health. It is an important opportunity to highlight men’s health, what it means to be healthy and what needs to be done to improve male health. This week challenges the perception that seeking help is a sign of weakness — a gender stereotype which can be extremely detrimental to the wellbeing of men and boys.
In the month of June, the TTSPH Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee helped raise awareness of the importance of regular health checks for every man. One of the biggest health risks for men is prostate cancer, with 45 men being diagnosed with this life threatening cancer each day.
See below some statistics surrounding prostate cancer in Australian Men:
On Friday 18th June 2021, Amy Boreland – HR Coordinator, on behalf of the D&I Committee, hosted the TTSPH Sit-up Challenge from 12-12:30pm to help raise money for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA).
The PCFA helps reduce the impact of prostate cancer for Australian men, their partners and families. Mr Masahiro Kuwahara – Manager Director, generously pledged on behalf of TTSPH, to donate $1 for every sit-up completed during the 30 minute time frame to PCFA.
By participating in this challenge, TTSPH employees helped raise money to help cover the cost of diagnosis, treatment and support for prostate cancer patients and their families.
To help inspire and motivate the TTSPH Sit-Up Challenge participants to complete as many sit-ups (or push-ups) as they could, a Greatest Sporting Moments video was played in the background – and it worked! The 17 employees who participated in the challenge completed a total of 821 sit-ups (or push-ups) during the 30 minute timeframe. Manish Yadav – Group IT Operations Manager, went above and beyond the target of 45 sit-ups (or push-ups), completing a total of 116 push-ups!
Thank you to Gaetan Fontaine – Field Parts & Service Manager for keeping a tally of all the sit-ups and push-ups completed during the event. A big thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge: Amy Boreland, Daniel Fernandez, Denzil Robertson, Gaetan Fontaine, Hank Zwitser, Jackson Keatinge, Kosei Sekito, Manish Yadav, Masahiro Kuwahara, Midori Matsumura, Namiko Kato, Nick Lancaster, Selene Lowe, Tom Harmer, Vicky McElwaine, Vishnu Agastya, and Yuri Nakatsu. Finally, thank you to those spectators who helped hold down feet (for those doing sit-ups), count repetitions and cheer on the participants – it was a team effort!
To raise further money for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia everyone who attended the Afternoon Tea on 23rd June 2021, were requested to give a personal donation to add to the TTSPH donation from the Sit-Up Challenge. Those who gave a donation received a raffle ticket for every $2 donated. The prize for the raffle was a Minecorp Fire Pit kindly donated by Mr Kuwahara. Brendan McCarten – Property Development Manager, made a very generous donation and won the Fire Pit (just in time for Winter)!
TTSPH employees who attended the Afternoon Tea raised a total of $224, bringing the total donation for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia to $1045!
This is an amazing contribution, as every $1,000 helps provide one man with antibody testing and analysis of tumour specimens to help find ways of deactivating killer cancer cells.
A big thank you to everyone who help raise money for the PCFA – your generosity is greatly appreciated.
