Spot it early.
It could save your life.

We are building a free nurse-led skin screening service for sailing clubs and outdoor sporting communities across the UK. We are in our founding phase, training, fundraising, and preparing to launch our first events in 2026.

Launching 2026 — help us get there
How it will work Our story
174,000+
new skin cancer diagnoses every year in the UK, 20,800 melanoma and over 156,000 non-melanoma (2016–2021)
including 20,800 melanoma cases, the 3rd highest in the world
Melanoma data ↗  Non-melanoma data ↗
Every 4 hrs
someone in the UK dies from melanoma, more than 2,600 deaths every year and rising
Source: Cancer Research UK ↗
~100%
five-year survival for stage 1 melanoma, caught early, it is almost always curable
Source: Cancer Research UK / NHS England ↗
How it works

Simple. Free. Potentially life-saving.

Our model is straightforward. When we launch, qualified nurses will attend outdoor sporting events and offer discreet spot checks, no referral or registration needed.

01

Check

A qualified nurse will examine up to three moles or lesions of concern. Our nurses are trained in dermoscopy, the quick clinical check of skin lesions, so you'll be in expert hands.

02

Triage

Your nurse will discuss what they've seen with you, explain what to look out for, and give you educational materials on skin health, sun protection, and self-examination.

03

Signpost

If anything causes concern, your nurse will signpost you to the right next step, and where possible provide a brief written note to help you take it quickly. We won't diagnose, we connect you with those who can.

Our communities

Built for people who spend time outdoors

Outdoor sport communities face higher UV exposure than the general population, yet skin cancer screening rarely reaches them. Spot It Early is being built to change that, starting with the communities we know best.

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Sailing

First to launch
🏏

Cricket

🎾

Tennis

🏌️

Golf

🚣

Rowing

🏃

Running

Planned expansion into cycling and more outdoor communities as the service grows beyond its founding phase.

About the founder

A nurse, a sailor, and someone who understands why this matters

"Sailors spend hours in direct sunlight, often on reflective water, with very little shade. And most of them haven't had their skin checked in years."

John Wilson is a Registered General Nurse, born and raised in the North East of England, with nearly twenty years of A&E and community experience, trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. He is also a qualified RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Cruising Instructor, someone who has spent a great deal of time on the water and within the UK sailing community.

Following his own stage 4 melanoma diagnosis, John looked around him and noticed a gap: people in outdoor sporting communities spending long hours in high UV environments, with little access to the kind of basic skin checks that can genuinely save lives.

With the support of donations, he is currently completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Dermatology in Clinical Practice at the University of South Wales and undertaking specialist dermoscopy training, to ensure that Spot It Early is built on solid clinical foundations before its first events go live.

RGN RYA Yachtmaster Offshore RYA Cruising Instructor PGDip Dermatology (in progress) St Bartholomew's Hospital, London
Global context

The UK is 3rd in the world for melanoma diagnoses

With 20,800 new melanoma diagnoses every year, the UK has one of the highest burdens of melanoma globally. This is the problem Spot It Early is being built to help address, one community at a time.

Rank Country New cases/yr Incidence ASR* Deaths/yr Mortality ASR*
1United States97,61016.311,4802.1
2Germany30,62018.93,5302.2
3United Kingdom ★20,80017.42,7101.9
4Australia16,82037.01,3933.1
5France15,95014.21,9801.7
6Italy14,87013.61,6101.5
7Brazil12,0403.22,1900.6
8Netherlands11,25020.11,0902.0
9Sweden9,48021.88602.5
10Spain8,96011.01,1401.4

★ United Kingdom highlighted  ·  Ranked by total new cases (both sexes)  ·  *ASR = age-standardised rate per 100,000 population, adjusts for age structure so countries can be fairly compared  ·  Source: GLOBOCAN 2022, IARC Global Cancer Observatory, via Hua et al. Int Open Med J. 2026;1:32–8

Why this matters

The UK has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world. Early detection changes everything.

More than 20,800 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the UK every year. Someone dies from it every four hours. And yet, caught at its earliest stage, melanoma is almost always curable, with five-year survival rates approaching 100%. The difference between those two outcomes is often nothing more than a timely check.

Nurse-led community screening programmes already operating in other countries have proven exactly this model: free checks, at the places people already gather, delivered by trained nurses who know what to look for. Spot It Early is being built to bring that same approach to the UK, starting with the communities we know best.

Support us on GoFundMe
What a spot check involves

What a Spot It Early event will look like

This is what a Spot It Early event will look like when we launch, relaxed, discreet, and taking no more than a few minutes of your time.

  • A qualified nurse will check up to three moles or skin lesions of concern
  • You'll receive clear, honest information about what the nurse has observed
  • You'll be given educational materials on sun protection and self-examination
  • If anything needs further attention, you'll be signposted toward the right follow-up care, with a written note where possible
  • The whole process will be free, confidential, and completely non-diagnostic
  • No appointment or registration, just turn up at a participating club
Speaking engagements

Bring John to your club or organisation

John speaks at sailing clubs, sporting organisations, and corporate events about skin cancer awareness, early detection, and the story behind Spot It Early. Talks are free to clubs in our pilot communities, get in touch to find out more.

"I went back to that GP and said: you saved my life. He'd spotted a mole, referred me straight away, and I was in surgery the same day. That was stage one. Without him, I wouldn't be here."

John Wilson grew up in the North East of England, the first in his family to go to university. Trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, he spent twenty years working as a nurse across the NHS, rural Australia, Papua New Guinea, and remote communities across Africa and Asia. He is a qualified RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Cruising Instructor who has sailed and taught in the UK and around the world.

At thirty, a GP noticed a mole on his back that John couldn't see. He was in surgery within hours. Stage one. Almost certainly curable. That moment stayed with him for a decade.

In early 2025, John received a stage 4 melanoma diagnosis, multiple metastases, caught only because he pushed for a scan he wasn't sure he'd get. He is now on immunotherapy treatment at Guy's Hospital.

In between those two diagnoses he saw, in New Zealand, what a free nurse-led mole check programme at a sporting event could do. He has spent the time since building Spot It Early, to bring that model to the UK.

He is not a campaigner. He is a nurse, a sailor, and someone who understands from both sides of the consultation what early detection actually means.

"One in five people in the UK will get a skin cancer diagnosis. Most of the sailors I know have never had a mole check. That's what we're here to change."
Invite John to speak

Sailing clubs & yacht clubs

A talk built for the sailing community, why outdoor sailors are at higher risk, what the research shows, and what a spot check programme at your club could look like. John is one of you: RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, Cruising Instructor, former racing crew. He gets the culture and speaks the language.

Awareness talk Personal story Pilot club interest

Corporate & outdoor sporting organisations

A compelling case for why skin cancer awareness belongs in your organisation's health and wellbeing programme, with data, personal testimony, and a practical model that costs nothing to host. Suitable for sailing federations, cricket clubs, golf clubs, running clubs, and any organisation whose members spend time outdoors.

Corporate wellness Partnership opportunities Fundraising talks

What a talk includes

John speaks from lived experience, as a nurse, as a patient, and as someone who has watched what early detection can and cannot do. Talks typically cover the UK's skin cancer burden, the case for community screening, the Spot It Early model, and practical sun safety guidance. Educational resources and awareness materials can be left with the host organisation.

45–60 mins Q&A included Free to qualifying clubs
Get involved

Help us get Spot It Early off the ground

Spot It Early is in its founding phase. Before we can run our first events, we need to complete postgraduate dermatology training, fund specialist dermoscopy equipment, and build the clinical governance framework that will underpin everything we do. Your donation goes directly towards making that happen.

Donate to our GoFundMe

£4,680 raisedGoal: £9,000

Your donation goes directly towards clinical training, dermoscopy equipment, and the running costs of our first screening events. Every pound gets us closer to being on the water.

Donate now on GoFundMe

Bring us to your club

Are you a sailing club, cricket club, golf club, or other outdoor sporting community interested in hosting a screening event when we launch? Get in touch now, we are building our list of partner clubs, and there will be no cost to the club.

Get in touch
Contact

Get in touch

We'd love to hear from you

Whether you're a club secretary curious about hosting a screening event, someone who wants to get involved as a volunteer, or a potential supporter, please get in touch.

We aim to respond to all enquiries within two working days.

✉️
[email protected]
🌐
www.spotitearly.org.uk
❤️
gofundme.com/f/nurseskincancer

Are you a sailor or outdoor sports enthusiast?
Register your interest and we'll let you know when events are confirmed near you.