Chatham Town will celebrate Non-League Day on Saturday at home to Haringey Borough – and a decade of support to the cause from Prostate Cancer UK

Chatham Town are supporting a charity close to their heart this Saturday as part of ‘Non-League Day’.

Prostate Cancer UK will celebrate a 10-year milestone working with Non-League Day and Chatham will be raising money for the charity when they take on Haringey Borough at the Bauvill Stadium.

Chatham general manager Gary Hake and chairman/manager Kevin Hake will be honoured to take part in the day after losing their dad Tom Hake - the former Chats manager - to prostate cancer in 2012.

For the last decade Prostate Cancer UK has worked side by side with the popular annual football matchday experience, raising money to fund lifesaving research and to increase the knowledge and awareness of prostate cancer - the most common cancer in men.

Tom Hake was 64 when he died. The former fireman had been diagnosed 12 years earlier.

Gary said: “Us and Non-League Day is a match made in heaven.

“It’s a way of merging together our great loves in life which is our dear old dad, and football.

“We were keen to really get behind the day to raise awareness of prostate cancer and also give our community a great day and celebrate all things great about the club.

“If I’m honest, until my dad was diagnosed prostate cancer wasn’t on our radar. You only really find out more when you are directly affected.

“Dad was a proper football man, and played at many clubs. He was old school, stiff upper lip and all that, and never really went to the doctors until it became a real problem.

“Hearing your dad has prostate cancer; it turns your world upside down,” he added. “He spent 30 years saving other people’s lives as a fireman; now all of a sudden his life is in jeopardy. You just wanted someone to save him really.

“Dad never wanted a fuss, even in his