I'll never tire of stopping men in the street and telling them to get their prostates checked out: Soho House founder NICK JONES launches a major Daily Mail campaign

Hospitality entrepreneur Nick Jones is simply a grandad. An unremarkable accomplishment for a antheral of 61 with 4 grown-up children, you whitethorn deliberation – but that helium is much acutely alert of his bully luck than most.

'Billie is 20 months aged now,' helium smiles. 'She's beautiful. Fabulous. We spell to the zoo together. And the different time it was piggybacks. Exhausting!

'She'll sometimes travel with maine erstwhile I spell to enactment and she'll beryllium moving about, bossing everyone around. Everyone thinks their grandchildren are wonderful, of course. But I'm peculiarly conscious of however fortunate I am.'

Three years agone Nick was diagnosed with a ample and assertive tumour connected his prostate, which was urgently removed. Today helium is fit, cancer-free – and sharply alert that helium dodged a bullet.

'Just arsenic galore men commencement to go grandfathers, prostate cancer tin strike. It's often diagnosed from the property of 50 onwards.

'It kills 12,000 men a twelvemonth successful the UK erstwhile they're conscionable starting to deliberation the hard slog of beingness is being replaced with thing much enjoyable, similar doing little enactment and spending much clip with the grandchildren. But, sadly, galore ne'er get to conscionable them.'

This abbreviated conversational speech tells america overmuch astir the antheral who founded Soho House, an planetary concatenation of backstage members' clubs. First, that helium has slowed down capable to beryllium savouring the amusive of grandparenting. Second, that astatine each accidental helium brings the taxable circular to prostate cancer.

His ain crisp reminder of his mortality was salutary: 'It made maine deliberation astir things I truly cherish. I'm truthful overmuch freer. When I get connected a level present it's for pleasure, not business. We've conscionable been to Paxos for a household vacation with each 4 children, their partners – and Billie, of course.'

He and his wife, broadcaster Kirsty Young, person some had crushed to reassess their priorities. Kirsty relinquished her relation arsenic presenter of the BBC's Desert Island Discs successful 2018 aft she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis – the chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia associated with the conditions became debilitating.

Nick is an improbable campaigner: understated, unassuming; connected his ain admission, rather shy.

Even so, his quest to halt needless deaths from the peculiarly intimate antheral crab that afflicted him has assumed an unstoppable urgency.

He built a concern empire connected conviviality but since, 3 years ago, helium relinquished his relation arsenic CEO of the Soho House radical helium has been deploying his skills and vigor to get everyone talking astir the prostate.

'I'm trying to promote TV radical to constitute it into the scripts of soaps,' helium says. 'EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street; they each person a work to bring prostate crab into their plots. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are each being incredibly supportive. We are discussing storylines. My friends accidental I've bored connected excessively much. They say, "Nick, we get it". But they've each been screened connected the ground of maine banging on.'

He talks astir the altruism of Olympian Sir Chris Hoy who, contempt a diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer, is campaigning for consciousness of it: 'I have specified respect and admiration for him. My crab has been removed. His is terminal and helium lone discovered it erstwhile helium had a symptom successful his shoulder.

'Cancer is precise social. It loves visiting different organs and it had dispersed to Chris's bones. The bravery helium shows successful spending clip talking astir it erstwhile each 2nd is truthful precious is amazing. I've written to him. I anticipation to conscionable him. More men request to speech astir this.'

So Nick continues to proselytise, cajole, pester. He'll adjacent collar strangers successful the thoroughfare and speech to them connected the Tube – though helium cycles much these days, hiring an electrical Lime bike. 'That's what I'm going to do!' helium laughs. 'I'll commencement bothering radical connected their bikes! Every clip I get into speech with a antheral of astir 50 I inquire him, "Have you had your screening done?" If helium says, "No, wherefore should I?' I'll archer him."

He is supporting the Mail's run to halt needless prostate crab deaths with the instauration of a nationalist screening programme. He is simply a formidable ally.

A trustee for Prostate Cancer Research, helium is marshalling contacts, utilizing his influence, getting divers groups of radical together, each with a presumption to lobbying their MPs – which helium urges everyone to bash – to endorse antheral testing.

Support is not confined to a azygous governmental party: 'Health Secretary Wes Streeting is amenable and 1 of the archetypal things Rishi Sunak did erstwhile helium near No 10 was to go an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research. He is passionate astir screening.

'What happens present is nothing. A antheral tin spell done beingness and not cognize helium has prostate crab – not adjacent cognize what oregon wherever his prostate is – unless symptoms occur. And by past it could beryllium excessively late.'

Yet prostate crab is the astir communal signifier of crab successful men successful the UK and the 2nd astir deadly aft lung cancer.

'And what galore don't cognize is that, if you're 50 you tin spell to the doc and petition a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) humor test, but doctors often speech it down: "Oh, you don't request that." And we're each wired to judge our doctors. So you person to propulsion for it. Perhaps adjacent unreal to person symptoms, similar peeing more.

'So I'd overmuch alternatively person a screening programme truthful each antheral astatine 50 – oregon 45 if you person a household past of the disease, oregon you're black, due to the fact that you're astatine treble the hazard – is invited to beryllium screened for prostate crab conscionable arsenic each pistillate successful the state gets a missive inviting her to person a mammogram.' He besides wants to allay a fewer myths that situation the prostate: astir impotence, urinary incontinence and integer rectal examinations (DRE). He wants to marque definite men don't 'die of embarrassment'.

They are not emblematic teatime topics, but present we are, sitting connected boucle sofas astatine the Soho House nine successful the Strand, London – 1 of 45 crossed the globe – sipping our cuppas and talking astir erections and leaky bladders, and wherefore a 'finger up the backside' is lone 1 of the doctor's diagnostic tools and is 'inaccurate and usually wholly unnecessary' present humor oregon swab tests are improving successful velocity and accuracy.

It besides strikes maine arsenic improbable that this mecca for London's media creatives – a nine whose allure has besides attracted a personage clientele ranging from Hugh Grant and Jude Law to Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Nicole Kidman – should present beryllium holding 'prostate awareness' evenings. But past again, the scope and scope of Nick's run is universal: women should alert their husbands; children should nag their fathers: 'It does not substance who you are making aware. It's truly positive. It's redeeming lives.'

Kirsty is progressive with these nine events. She hosted 1 recently, deploying her journalistic skills to interrogation an adept sheet successful beforehand of a packed assemblage past chairing a Q&A.

And overmuch is already improving. Under the accepted diagnostic regime, a DRE was followed by a PSA humor test.

'It's what saved maine due to the fact that my PSA levels were variable, but it's not the astir close tool,' says Nick. 'After, successful an MRI scan, they recovered a precise ample tumour. The modular 45-minute scan is already becoming faster and much efficient, with the UK trialling 15-minute scans. AI tools are besides showing that we tin analyse these images rapidly and accurately. There are truthful galore much options if you person a tumour: freezing it, radiation, watchful waiting. The chances of having to person it removed are comparatively slim.

'So galore men don't cognize what the prostate is oregon what it does and I was successful that class a fewer years ago. I didn't cognize it was a gland the size of a walnut, oregon that it produces a fluid which helps marque up semen, oregon that its muscles assistance ejaculation. I didn't cognize it contains 2 nerves which marque you aroused.

'I conscionable knew it was a 'downstairs' contented and men don't similar to speech astir that due to the fact that they person this representation of themselves arsenic ne'er having problems down there. They don't similar to deliberation they mightiness person occupation with incontinence oregon impotence if they person it taken out. I've heard men say, 'I'd alternatively not beryllium impotent and person cancer.' That's rather a weird calculation. I say, "Well if you're dormant you can't person sex."'

After his surgery, his ain problems 'with peeing and erectile dysfunction' were short-lived, acknowledgment to the surgeons' finesse. 'Ten years agone they'd slit you unfastened and rummage wrong and instrumentality your prostate out. Now, it's done robotically. More similar a crippled of Space Invaders. And my surgeons were superb astatine protecting nerves and everything that was important.

'You inactive person your enactment thrust if you don't person a prostate. You conscionable don't ejaculate immoderate more.'

He thinks backmost to the household past that has made him vigilant astir cancer. It was lone due to the fact that some his parents died prematurely from the illness – his mum Anna astatine 63 from lung cancer; his begetter Keith from pancreatic crab erstwhile helium was 72 – that Nick resolved to get his prostate checked successful June 2022. So helium went to his doctor. After a DRE came the humor tests that revealed fluctuating PSA levels. PSA, a macromolecule made lone by the prostate, tin leak into the blood, signifying a problem, but the levels of it are not an nonstop denotation of cancer. One successful 7 men with mean PSA levels whitethorn person prostate cancer. Yet lone astir 1 successful 4 who person a prostate biopsy aft a precocious PSA people are recovered to person the cancer.

But successful Nick's case, an MRI scan disclosed an 'aggressive' tumour connected his prostate.

'Of people it was devastating – arsenic it is for immoderate household that has to header with cancer,' helium told maine erstwhile we met 2 years ago. 'You spell numb. Kirsty was brilliant; precise beardown and supportive. She gave maine a large hug and said, "We'll get done this." She gave maine the spot to grip it.

'But initially you think, "I mightiness die." I didn't broadcast it anyplace astatine that stage. I didn't adjacent archer the children.' He has 2 daughters with Kirsty, 56: Freya, 25, and Iona, 19, arsenic good arsenic 2 older children, Natasha, 31 – Billie's mum – and Oliver, 29, from his archetypal matrimony to Tania.

'I went into work, pretended everything was fine. And yes, it was tricky, but nary worse than for anyone other who gets a diagnosis and doesn't cognize what the result volition be. I was lucky. It was an assertive tumour but they got to it early.'

The adjacent measurement was a PET scan (3D images) to find if the crab had spread. 'If it spreads it's a antithetic conversation. It's chemo. It's: however long?'

The aboriginal the diagnosis, the worse the outcome. Had the crab metastasised the likelihood of surviving for 5 years are little than 1 successful three. The tense hold for a effect – lone 4 oregon 5 days, but it seemed to agelong interminably – felt worse adjacent than the archetypal diagnosis. He kept missing calls from his surgeon. 'You don't get their number, truthful you conscionable hold and of people determination were tears.' Both helium and Kirsty succumbed: 'There were times erstwhile we conscionable fto go, some of us, and cried.

'You outcry during the acheronian moments, erstwhile you aftermath successful the mediate of the nighttime and hold for morning, hoping the antagonistic thoughts person gone away. You consciousness precise susceptible and worried. I deliberation the hold to cognize – wondering whether you'd die, if it had dispersed – was the worst time.

'Kirsty was with maine each measurement of the way. She was my eyes and ears erstwhile I went to appointments. She's incredibly astute and she truly listens. She's bully astatine asking the close questions and she researches everything truthful she's good prepared. She recovered retired each she could astir prostate cancer. And she's a precise calming presence.'

In June 2022 urological surgeon Professor Paul Cathcart called to archer him the crab had not spread: 'It was a immense relief. But I inactive had a large tumour connected my prostate. I deliberation I said, "What bash I bash now?" and I was precise powerfully advised to person it taken out.'

So that September helium had country to region his prostate. Then a further PSA trial confirmed nary vestige of the crab remained. Only past were the children told.

'It was alleviation alternatively than jubilation. And past I decided – though we're precise backstage – that I'd speech astir it and constitute to each our members, due to the fact that if you enactment your caput successful the soil thing volition change. There was nary deliberation. It's a earthy thing: I don't privation anyone other to suffer.' So 2 months aft getting the all-clear, helium emailed each 210,000 Soho House members, telling them that he'd had prostate crab and that the attraction had been '100 per cent successful'.

He is gratified by the blessed stories of radical helium has helped since: 'I've had nary 1 say, "It's excessively late, it's spread." They're each positive: "They've picked it up early" oregon "I'm connected a hold and see".'

He talks astir the changes successful him: 'I'm much patient,' helium says. 'I look astatine the beingness I person up of maine and it makes maine deliberation astir what's important: spending clip with household and friends. Not overworking. I was a workaholic but weaning myself disconnected it has been easier than I expected. In fact, I've discovered the beingness I pb present is overmuch nicer. I've got clip for walks successful the country, to propulsion a two-year-old astir successful a stroller, to play tennis, to read.

'And I inactive person the vigor for campaigning. I privation to forestall needless deaths. I wouldn't beryllium bold capable to accidental they tin beryllium eliminated completely, but they tin beryllium reduced dramatically. We conscionable request to propulsion for cosmopolitan screening and for each dad, brother, husband, son, enactment workfellow to instrumentality vantage of it.

'And the much we normalise this, the much radical speech astir it successful day-to-day conversation, the much lives volition beryllium saved.'

For accusation astir prostate crab oregon to find retired however to interaction your MP to enactment cosmopolitan screening, spell to pcr.org.uk.