A CHARITY founded by a Cardross man has signed up footballers from Hibernian FC to help its campaign to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

Cahonas Scotland, led by Ritchie Marshall, has joined up with the Edinburgh club, who have pledged to encourage every male player and supporter to perform regular self checks.

As part of the club’s partnership with MANSCAPED, Hibs will launch a series of initiatives through the season to make sure their players and supporters are doing everything they can to lessen the devastating effects of testicular cancer.

To launch the partnership, stars Lewis Stevenson and Kevin Dabrowski took a break from training, donned Cahonas Scotland t-shirts, and issued a plea to supporters to check themselves regularly.

Lewis Stevenson said: “I always look out for my teammates, that’s why I’ll be reminding them to check their balls regularly! Hopefully other clubs will look at this partnership and join Hibs in encouraging all their male players and supporters to check their balls.

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"If this can help even one family avoid tragedy, it will be a far greater achievement than anything we could ever do on the pitch.”

Testicular cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in young men in the UK, but if detected in its early stages, it’s 98 per cent curable.

Ritchie said: “Football is such a huge part of life in Scotland, and footballers are hugely influential – they’re role models to so many young adults. The support of Hibs will help us on our mission to make sure every man in Scotland self checks regularly.

“When people know how their balls look and feel normally, detecting changes is easy, and early detection is the best defence against the disease.

“Testicular cancer can have devastating effects for men and their families. With Hibs’ help, we can make sure that more people in Scotland can avoid tragedy.”