Ashburton men dealing with prostate cancer will have their exercise costs covered by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand if they want to access weekly Prost-FIT classes at EA Networks Centre.

The foundation has begun fully funding the customised class to co-incide with Blue September, which is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Being active can help manage some of the common side effects of treatment for prostate cancer and speed up recovery.

The class at EA Networks Centre is held on a Monday, from 11am until 12noon, and is regularly attended by up to 10 men.

Community Services Group Manager Steve Fabish said Prost-FIT had been running for more than a year in Ashburton and as well as exercise and health benefits, the class gave the men a chance to gather afterwards for a coffee and chat.

“We have a solid core of 8-10 men coming along to this class regularly and we know they get a lot out of it. Being active helps with treatment, is good for mental wellbeing and people can share their experiences.”

The Prostate Cancer Foundation announced last week that it fully fund weekly classes; previously it funded only the first class for participants.

“We hope the fact that this weekly class is now more available to participants encourages more men to come along,” Mr Fabish said.

Prost-FIT is a national network of exercise classes rolled out in 2020 by the foundation and since then registered exercise professionals have delivered more than 940 class hours.

Foundation chief executive Peter Dickens said that under the new class model, men around the country would have access to one free class per week for 40 weeks annually.

“We know how much Prost-FIT has improved the lives of participants and are pleased to be able to remove one of the barriers to participation, the cost.”

He said being active helped men live with prostate cancer, which was a long-term condition. The exercise classes were delivered in a supporting environment, with an emphasis on fun and social interaction.

The foundation provides support and education to men and their families living with a prostate cancer diagnosis, raises awareness of the disease and invests in research and treatment.

More information is at https://prostate.org.nz