SOME 300 people joined the March for Men on Bournemouth seafront, enjoying glorious blue skies as they raised money for state-of-the-art prostate cancer diagnosis equipment.

Nurses, consultants, hospital staff and prostate cancer patients, as well as Bournemouth Hospital Charity patron Fiona Castle were among the walkers and runners taking part.

See all the pictures from the March For Men event in a gallery 

With a choice of 1k, 5k or 10k distances to choose from, everyone from children, to walkers in their 80s joined in with the event, which started at Bournemouth Pier on Sunday morning.

Barry Wilson, Bournemouth Hospital Charity events officer, said: “Everyone crossing the line had a smile on their face – some were more exhausted than others, but the weather certainly helped make it more enjoyable for everyone.”

Organisers of the event are hoping as much as £20,000 could have been raised to help buy prostate template biopsy equipment worth £130,000 for Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s urology department.

The new equipment, which could benefit up to 400 people each year, will save patients in Bournemouth from travelling to Dorchester for tests and reduce waiting times by up to three months. It will also improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosing prostate cancer, reduce infection rates, and help monitor some patients already diagnosed with the disease.

This, Bournemouth's second March for Men after last year’s event raised £20k for the hospital, has an important role to play in raising awareness as well as funds, added Barry Wilson.

“It’s important to get men’s health issues out there – it needs to be highlighted on a bigger scale and I think the March for Men does that – at least in the local area.

"It’s about giving the message that there are great doctors able to help – you just have to come and see them. You shouldn’t be scared to talk to someone.”

He said plans were in place to hire the template biopsy equipment to trial it at Bournemouth as early as April, with a view to buying it when the funds are in place.