A CROWD gathered at the Hamilton Regional Livestock Exchange on Thursday to participate in a Men’s Health Fundraising Auction to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer.

Many items were generously donated to the auction with all proceeds going to The Male Bag Foundation, which raises funds to enable the purchase of Transperineal Biopsy Machines for placement in Public Rural and Regional Hospitals.

Athlone South Angus breeder, Roland Cameron, said the event was well supported by members of the community with over $30,000 raised for the charity.

“There needs to be acknowledgement made of the people who made this event possible,” he said.

“I think we made about $17,000 from donated articles.

Special guests also attended including former North Melbourne Kangaroos player and Hawthorn coach, Donald McDonald, as well as Tony Clayton from The Male Bag Foundation who gave a speech about the history and formation of the charity.

Western District Health Service (WDHS) chief medical officer and longtime GP, Dr Dale Ford, said he spoke at the auction where he reinforced the importance of being vigilant with testing for prostate cancer.

“Men often ignore their health and by the time they have a problem with something like prostate cancer it’s advanced so it’s a good idea for men to be in tune with their health, to have a regular GP, and in regards to prostate cancer to get a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test from the age of 50,” he said.

“If there’s a family history of prostate cancer it increases the risk by about four times.”

Dr Ford said he also spoke to the crowd about the tests available for men to check for prostate cancer including having a transperineal biopsy, an MRI, or undergoing a PSA test.

He said lots of locals attended the event and received the important message - do not ignore your health.

“Men already live less in years than women and if we’re going to turn that around we need to encourage men to get tested,” he said.

Dr Ford said the event on Thursday also resulted in conversations about The Male Bag Foundation possibly exploring the idea of helping WDHS get a transperineal biopsy machine in the future.

While this possible addition to WDHS would not occur for many years, Dr Ford said it would mean men wouldn’t need to travel to receive potentially lifesaving testing.

Mr Cameron said while David Parkin was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, he wanted to relay his thanks and gratitude for the support of The Male Bag Foundation and said he was very uplifted by the result.