A bowel cancer survivor has been honoured with a national award for his tireless charity work.

Stephen Browne 47 from Lower Edmonton was diagnosed with bowel cancer in March 2012.

Now, having made a full recovery, Mr Browne has been dedicating his time to raise awareness for the disease.

His work has not gone unnoticed and has been awarded the ‘Achievement Award’ from charity Beating Bowel Cancer for his talks and motivational speeches.

He said: “I was numb when I was told I had bowel cancer. I was quite young and I have always looked after my health.

“My wife Shelley has been a massive support to me throughout my treatment and recovery; it has been hard for her since I was diagnosed.

“Following successful treatment, we’ve just heard that I’ve got the all-clear, so this award is the icing on the cake. I’m thrilled to support Beating Bowel Cancer and do all I can to help spread awareness of the disease.”

In a bid to get men to loosen up when it comes to talking about bowel cancer, Mr Browne has been very vocal and has encouraged men to open up to doctors if they have a problem.

He added: ““My underlining message would be to think of the worst-case scenario and go to the GP as soon as possible. Most men have this macho mindset and will think it’s just nothing.

“We need to look at cancer as the first possibility and work our way back towards minor problems because ultimately bowel cancer is the killer and not piles.”

Mark Flannagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said: “Stephen’s contribution to the charity is incredible and we wanted to say thank you to him for all his fantastic work. Stephen is great advocate for Beating Bowel Cancer; we can’t praise him enough for his efforts. As Stephen’s case shows, bowel cancer is treatable when caught early, so it’s vital that people are aware of the symptoms.”