We are very sad to hear the passing of founder of The Prostate Project Colin Stokes last week, who we have worked with for many years. Colin Stokes established the Prostate Project in 1998 with his consultant urological surgeon, Mr John Davies, after Colin was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 58. With his background working at Unilever and running his own consultancy company, Colin worked tirelessly as a volunteer Chairman for 21 years, overseeing the establishment of the oncology research team at the University of Surrey and building the Stokes Centre for Urology at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. Having retired as Chair in 2020, Colin continued to support the charity through his role as Ambassador, reaching out to the local community through talks, presentations and interviews. Colin was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Surrey and an MBE for services to cancer patients.
Although he hadn’t been well recently, Colin Stokes and his wife were again helping backstage at this year’s ‘Paul Jones & Friends’ gig, providing hospitality to the musicians and celebrity guests. I’m sure Colin would be pleased to know that the total sum raised at this gig for the charity he founded was very nearly £69,500. A further sum of £10,000 was also donated to Cranleigh Arts Centre, of which Paul Jones is a patron.
Colin would also have been very gratified to know that on 4th February (National Cancer Day) the Prostate Project ‘Man Van’ was parked at Guildford Cathedral and tested over 100 men, mostly resulting from the gig. The Man-Van itself had largely been funded by the previous two ‘Paul Jones & Friends’ gigs.
I’m sure that despite this sad news, everyone will be pleased to know that Paul Jones has agreed to continue the gig next year, on Tuesday 5th & Wednesday 6th January 2027.
Tony Smith
Colin (pictured right) receiving a cheque from Paul Jones, Tom Jones, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and myself.