Jack Hinton was just 24-years-old when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2019. The musical theatre actor who lives in London, shares his story about discovering a lump in his testicle, and the subsequent surgery. Jack, who’s now 26, sought support from Baggy Trousers UK following his diagnosis, and is returning the favour by hosting an online fundraising concert…

Jack said: ‘At first, I noticed a small lump on my right testicle and went to my nearest doctor to get it checked. I was assured by the doctor that it was nothing to worry about and all would be fine. The following week I then flew to Germany to start rehearsals for my next job. Two months later, I then realised that what was once a small lump had grown into the size of a large tennis ball. This was ultimately when I knew that something was not right and so, I went straight to a hospital in Germany where I was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

‘Four days after my diagnosis, I underwent surgery to remove the tumour. The staff at the hospital warned me that the tumour was an aggressive one, so they tried to get me into the theatre for surgery as soon as they could. I went in for my surgery and then had to stay in the hospital for five days. After this, I left the hospital to get back to resuming rehearsals but for the next eight weeks, had to come back to the hospital once a week for blood tests to ensure that I was keeping on the mend.

‘I am so pleased and relieved that my prognosis is now all clear and I aim to get a check-up every six months. Given that I was in Germany throughout my experience, I wasn’t aware of any UK based charities at the time. Baggy Trousers UK was one of the charities I researched when I returned home, and as soon as I got in direct contact with Jack [the founder], and we spoke about our experiences, I knew I picked the right charity. Seeing the support the charity offers is wonderful. When the idea came to me to host a show; I knew I wanted to associate it with a charity.

‘I hosted a concert on Thursday 3^rd December 2020, at a theatre in London. I used my platform in this concert to share all about my story and experience, fighting testicular cancer. Throughout the show, I sang some songs, all of which mean a lot to me and have relevance to my story.

‘This concert was also professionally filmed and streamed online for £5 per ticket to raise funds in aid of Baggy Trousers UK.

‘Throughout my recovery period post-surgery, I felt alone and didn’t know how to be feeling or what the next steps to take were. I wanted to speak about this in my concert and with hope, resonate with others who may have felt like this also. It’s such an impactful event in one’s life, experiencing cancer and especially for men who are still carved out in today’s society to just ‘get on with it’ etc.; I feel I now have a duty from experience that I can share with others and with hope, help others to not feel so alone. To show my efforts in wanting to do this, I wanted to donate the money I raised through ticket sales and give it to an amazing charity raising awareness and support for others fighting the same battle.

‘To other men, my age, older and younger, I would say – CHECK YOUR NUTS! I do it once a week. Of course, the first couple of times it may be “scary” as one may not want to have to think about what they may find down there. However, it’s so worth it and nowhere near as scary as it being too late!

‘The body has an indescribable way of telling you that something’s wrong. Even after my first appointment with the doctor who assured me everything was ‘okay’, I knew in my heart of heart’s everything wasn’t. You can never be too careful and nothing is more important than your health and happiness.’

You can find Jack on Instagram @JACKHINTON__ (that’s a double underscore) Or on Twitter: @JACKHINTON_ (single underscore)

Over the past five years we have reached over 3 million people online, delivered awareness talks to over 15,000 young adults and engaged with over 50 males directly affected by testicular cancer.

The generosity of our supporters has enabled us to make a real difference in our mission to offer emotional, financial and practical support to those directly affected by testicular cancer. Together ensuring that those affected receive the best possible support after a cancer diagnosis and throughout recovery.

As a small charity, we very much rely on supporter donations to deliver our charitable aims. The financial climate for charities like Baggy Trousers UK is particularly hard at the moment and our fundraising needs to be balanced with our focus on making an impact delivering life-saving educational talks and providing support to people directly affected by testicular cancer.

We need your help. I am writing this blog today to ask if you would be willing to offer your support in the form of a vital donation?

£25 could pay for our online support forum to run for one week, the forum gives people access to peer support online 24 hours a day.

£50 could pay for 1,000 awareness leaflets, designed to educate young adults on how to check themselves for the signs and symptoms of testicular cancer.

£100 could pay for the delivery of an awareness talk to a school or college helping young adults to learn all about testicular cancer and become confident in their own wellbeing.

Donations can be made:

Online via our website, www.baggytrousersuk.org/donate.

A regular donation through our monthly giving option via our website.

By cheque, please make cheques payable to Baggy Trousers UK and post to Richmond House, Hill Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL7 0PZ.

Any support you can offer will allow us to continue our life-saving work with young men.

Thank you in advance,

Yours sincerely,

Jack Broadley

Founder & CEO of Baggy Trousers UK

On the 5th October, Sophie Bull, Hannah Albans and Sophie’s mother Jill will be taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in aid of testicular cancer charity Baggy Trousers UK. The challenge consists of taking on the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough totalling a massive 24 miles and 1585m (5200ft) of ascent in just under 12 hours.

In preparation for the challenge Sophie and Hannah bought new hiking gear, they made sure they met up when they were able to, to bed their boots in. Sophie and Hannah travelled up to Derbyshire to clamber up Mam Tor, down to the Chiltern Hills and walked as many local routes as possible ranging from 8 to 20 miles in length to get them ready for the challenge. In between these walks, they also attended the gym and different classes to help improve their stamina and general fitness.

Sophie, Hannah and Jill are taking on this challenge and raising vital funds in aid of Baggy Trousers UK after Sophie’s husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2018. Sophie became obsessed with researching the disease and always found herself looking on Instagram for success stories and UK testicular charities to follow to help with her research. This is how Sophie first came across Baggy Trousers UK.

Sophie’s husband Greg was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Luckily, it was caught early enough and after an operation and a small dose of chemotherapy he is, hopefully, now cancer free! Baggy Trousers UK made contact with Sophie after seeing a post of hers on Instagram where they were kind enough to offer their support to Greg. This meant a lot to Sophie at the time, therefore when it came to choosing a charity for their challenge Sophie thought of Baggy Trousers UK straight away. Sophie said “I wanted to raise money for a smaller, less known charity so I’m so pleased we were able exceed our target of £1000”.

“Guys… Get to know your testicles. Give them a check regularly and go to the doctors if something doesn’t feel right. It took my husband a while to pluck up the courage to go but there is no need to be scared! Nearly a year on from diagnosis, Greg is healthy and all blood tests are clear” said Sophie.

Sophie, Hannah and Jill would like to take this opportunity to thank all of their lovely family and friends who have made such kind donations to help them reach their target, and who have supported them through this tough year. Sophie personally wants to thank Hannah, who was a huge support for herself and Greg through his diagnosis and treatment and for wanting to complete this challenge with her. “I am so lucky to have her as a best friend! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!” said Sophie.

You can sponsor Sophie, Hannah and Jill via their online fundraising page: www.justgiving.com/sophandhan

Baggy Trousers UK is a survivor-led male cancer charity based in Greater Manchester, their aim is to educate people on the signs and symptoms of testicular cancer and actively promote the benefits of early detection. Baggy Trousers UK works hard to reduce embarrassment and save lives through our engaging awareness campaigns.

Baggy Trousers UK offers peer-to-peer support through a range of different activities that are organised monthly and quarterly. The activities are aimed to bring people together that have faced a diagnosis who share the same or similar thoughts and experiences. Baggy Trousers UK aims to provide emotional, financial and practical support to those directly affected by testicular cancer.

Baggy Trousers UK can be reached via telephone on 0800 772 3910 and email info@baggytrousersuk.org.

Founder Jack Broadley and Treasurer Jessica Rae attended Music for Merrick on Sunday 30th July 2017, a fundraising event in aid of BaggyTrousersUK.

Organiser Joely Mitchell said “I chose to raise money in aid of BaggyTrousersUK as my brother in law, Jamie, is currently fighting Testicular Cancer.

He is 12 months in and still has a long road ahead, but we are all very optimistic.  When we found out that Jamie had cancer, it obviously took us as a family, by total surprise. We were all so shocked and upset, but we’ve all pulled together to be there to support Jamie, Cara and their 3 children in whatever way we can.

I did a google search online to see if there were any charities out there that could provide extra support to Jamie, even just someone who’s fought or fighting it to be able to talk to Jamie, I felt it would be a massive help. It was then that I came across Jack Broadley and the charity he set up BaggyTrousersUK.

After reading his story, I felt that I absolutely had to do something more to support Jamie, but at the same time raise money for BaggyTrousersUK to enable them to keep spreading awareness about how to check yourself for testicular abnormalities that may otherwise go undetected until it’s too late, so I came up with the idea of ‘Music for Merrick’.

After speaking to Jack for some time on the phone and discussing my plans, it was full steam ahead to piece the event together and I am pleased to say that with 6 weeks of tireless planning, we did it!

We had over 400 people through the gates of Hemel Hempstead Football Club and had live music from a local band called UnderView and DJ Dan Cassidy, various food vendors, stall holders and inflatables for the children to play on.

The atmosphere was incredible and despite a 20 minute down-pour, the sun then came out and stayed with us for the rest of the day.

As a result of the event, I, along with my friends, Gemma Reynolds, Ben Whittle, Charlotte Hosier and James Hood, to name a few, managed to raise £817.83 which I am incredibly happy with.

I would now like to make this an annual event as a lot of people that came, asked if we were going to do it again. I feel that with 12 months of planning, instead of 6 weeks, next year’s event will be even bigger and better!!”

Jack said, “I’m so glad that Jamie was able to join us on the day and see how much support he has behind him, Jamie had just finished a round of chemotherapy treatment that morning, he was in high spirits all day! We’re very grateful for the support and funds raised on the day. I would like to personally thank Joely for doing such a great job in organising a fantastic event in such a short amount of time.”

If you would like to organise your own fundraising event in aid of BaggyTrousersUK visit our Fundraise section.

Yep! – We did it, we was granted £856.00 by Bardsley Construction via Forever Manchester!

So what do we plan to do with it?

We will be running a targeted social media campaign at males aged between 15 and 35 in Tameside and surrounding areas.

The population of Tameside is approximately 219,000+, with 49% of this number being males, we have a great audience to target and get the all-important message of check your testicles and how to perform a self-examination if they’re unsure of how to do this by using our website.

Our ultimate aim and goal with this funding is to increase awareness about testicular cancer predominantly in the Tameside area, we have found that if one person shares what we are posting then this can go to different areas and a much larger reach and engagement will be achieved.

We also attend awareness sessions and events where we set up an awareness stand with pop up banners, information leaflets, prosthetic testicles with tumors on and currently we have plain table cloths, we’re going to purchase two table cloths with the charity logo printed and the important message “Have the GUTS to check your NUTS” on there.

Here is a bit more information about the social media campaign we’re launching soon:

We plan to run a consistent social media campaign over the next seven months which will see us spending on average £100 per month in social media advertisements, from this we expect to achieve a total reach/engagement of over 15,000+ males. The approach we’re taking with the campaign is aimed to get the message out of how important it is to detect testicular cancer early in a humorous manner so that it reduces the embarrassment for males not wanting to go to the doctors or check themselves.

We’d like to thank Bardsley Construction and Forever Manchester for granting the money and helping BaggyTrousersUK move forward with the awareness.