Olympian Sir Chris Hoy has teamed up with the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), the Royal Marsden Hospital and PureGym to boost patients’ chances of survival through exercise.

Under the program, patients taking hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer will be eligible for a year’s free membership at a PureGym. They will also get six months’ worth of expert exercise advice from the ICR and Royal Marsden.

Sir Chris, a prostate cancer patient himself, has committed to promoting better awareness and testing since his own diagnosis.

ICR state that research has shown that exercise can result in a better quality of life for men on hormone therapy, with less fatigue, lower body fat and higher muscle mass, and improved bone density. NHS guidelines recommend that men with advanced prostate cancer are offered exercise programmes.

However, few programmes are available, and figures show that around a third of men with advanced prostate cancer are completely inactive and only around one in eight meet guideline levels of activity.