A GOLFER has raised more than £1,400 in thanks to the hospital that treated his rare cancer.

Roy Dickin, 53, received life-changing treatment at the Christie Hospital in Manchester after being diagnosed with penile cancer in September last year.

He was joined by friends Mark McAllister and Billy Henkinson as he completed 72 holes in 15 hours at Rhyl Golf Course on May 11.

“I’m so grateful to the Christie, Glan Clwyd and Clarence House, and to my work who have been great with me,” said Roy.

“Without them I would not have been able to deal with the process in the way that I did.”

A £1,450 cheque was raised for the hospital, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe, where Roy underwent laser therapy in October.

Rhyl Golf Club chairman Ken Jones, captain Nigel Evans and shop worker Peter Maguiness were among those present to hand over the cheque.

Michael Pritchard, spokesman for Rhyl Golf Club, said: “The amount of support and outpour of support for Roy has been pretty phenomenal.

“Bearing in mind the pain and psychological challenges Roy has faced, his achievement is even more remarkable.

“Golf has been a really good distraction for him and he has received so much support from members of the club.

“The club has been there to encourage him to keep on playing and members with low handicaps have taken him under their wing in terms of coaching.

“One thing that golf does do is provide a chance for people to shed their woes and be distracted.

“Members get together socially and use golf to have a bit of banter, competition and talk things through, although it can be more frustrating if you are not playing anywhere near as well as you want to.

“Roy’s fundraiser is a good example of the golf club and its members coming together. It was also for a cause which is so under the radar; nobody is aware of this and it needs to get a bit more prominence to make sure that other men in this position know that this is not a joke.”

Bethan Hill, community fundraising coordinator at The Christie, in Manchester, said: "We're delighted that Roy chose to fundraise for The Christie with his 72-hole golf challenge.

"The Christie charity only exists because of all our fantastic support from all our amazing fundraisers, such as Roy.

"This was a great event to get people as involved as possible as we get our fundraising back on track after Covid-19."