Comedian, writer, podcaster and star of Celebrity Bake Off, Richard Herring, was the special guest at our charity golf day which raised more than £16,000 to support men’s health.

The event, which was organised with former patient, Graham Hoare, was held at Knebworth Golf Club and brought together local businesses and supporters to raise funds for the Lister Hospital urology department to improve the experience for patients with prostate cancer.

The event welcomed 84 golfers for breakfast, a morning of golf and then lunch back at the clubhouse. After a talk by urology consultant, Jim Adshead, on what the funds raised could provide, the golfers enjoyed Richard Herring candidly sharing his story of being treated for testicular cancer at the Lister Hospital and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

Richard has written a book and stand-up show on his experience. As well as the many laughs, Richard also covers the more poignant and upsetting moments he experienced going through cancer diagnosis and treatment. After seeing the show, many men contacted Richard to say it had persuaded them to get checked out and, in several instances, they were told they had cancer and were then able to start treatment.

Richard said: “It’s great to be able to support the charity and share a bit about my experience. The care I received at Lister Hospital and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre was fantastic and made a horrible situation much more bearable. I’m really pleased to be able to give something back to say thank you.

“I hope that my talk today persuades anyone worried about a health issue to go to see their GP and get checked out, and also, much more importantly, that it was funny!”

Bethany McNeil, head of fundraising, said: “We’re very grateful to everyone who took part in our men’s health golf day and helped make it such a success.

“It was a fantastic day, bringing people together to support projects that will make a real difference to patients receiving treatment.

“We’d like to give huge thanks to our co-organiser, Graham Hoare, who has supported and fundraised for the urology department since he received treatment for prostate cancer back in 2019. Graham and his team put in so much time to make the golf day the success that it was.

“Special thanks, of course, go to Richard Herring who was hilarious while sharing an important message about testicular cancer and men’s health in general. He had the whole room laughing at the most inappropriate things!

"We would also like to thank Knebworth Golf Club for being kind hosts of the event and to our sponsors - Thames Materials, Avocado Property, Noviniti, George Hay Accountants, Heneom HR and Softcat.

Thanks also to our players who included members of Knebworth Golf Club and representatives from Walter Cooper, Extreme Scaffolding, McCarthy and Stone, Thames Materials, Noviniti, R&B, Avocado Property, Mosaic Property Management, CWG Group, MML Group, Tanium, Hensal Communications and Leysbrook and to photographer, Keith Fenwick, and to everyone who kindly donated the raffle and auction prizes."

Photos from the day are on Facebook.