The Scottish Third Division club, who have seen illustrious names such as Pat Nevin and Steve Archibald come through their ranks, will be wearing the British Dental Health Foundation’s blue ribbon badge logo on their shirts to promote its annual campaign to raise awareness of a disease that kills more people than cervical and testicular cancer combined.
Mouth Cancer Action Month, supported by Denplan, takes place in November annually throughout the UK under the tagline ‘If in doubt, get checked out’. Tobacco and alcohol continue to be the leading causes of the disease, and incidence rates in Scotland are far higher than in any other part of the UK.
The chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Nigel Carter, expressed his delight at Clyde FC’s commitment and hopes it encourages more professional bodies to come forward and do likewise, he said: ‘It is a great honour to have Clyde Football Club sponsoring Mouth Cancer Action. It’s well documented that Scots suffer worst with mouth cancer than any other part of the UK, so it is fantastic to see such a positive step in raising awareness of the disease and will hopefully encourage others to follow suit.’
Director and club dentist of Clyde Football Club and owner of Whitemoss Dental Practice, David MacPherson, said: ‘It’s always been an aim of mine to be pro-active when it comes to spreading the message of prevention. When the opportunity to work with the foundation arose to promote Mouth Cancer Action Month, it was one we simply could not turn down. As a ‘Community Interest Club’, it gives me great delight in knowing that wearing the blue ribbon on our shirts and raising awareness of the disease that we’re giving something back to the community. We are particularly looking forward to start of the campaign itself, as there will be plenty of activity around that time.’