A COMMUNITY radio is inviting amateur singers, composers and anyone after a good time to belt it out for Movember.

Today, Swindon 105.5 launched the Song Booth, a small recording studio where anyone can now perform or mix their own tunes and help to raise awareness of men’s health issues in one fell swoop.

Each session costs £30 and for this month only, the team will donate £25 from each recording to the Movember campaign, which aims to break the silence over prostate and testicular cancers, among many other conditions affecting men.

Prostate cancer survivor and professional singer Ricky Porter was the very first to test run the recording booth.

The 70-year-old former boxing champion opted for surgery to remove the prostate gland rather than undergo a course of radiotherapy. He was given the all clear in 2010.

He has since made it his mission to encourage men to discuss their health issues, no matter how embarrassing or seemingly emasculating the symptoms.

He performed live on Swindon 105.5 and recorded three classic songs, Speedo by The Cadillacs, Louis Prima’s Buona Sera and The Nearness of You.

“I want to do anything I can to get people to talk about it,” said Ricky, of County Roadl.

“I hope I don’t put people off when I start singing!”

Although he survived, Ricky’s father, a Jamaican opera singer who moved to the UK in 1936, was not as lucky.

He said: “I was all too aware of the suffering he went through. Within three months of being diagnosed with having a problem with his prostate they told him it was terminal. It’s the easiest cancer to cure if it’s caught early.

“But it is embarrassing for a guy. They don’t want to see that they can’t pee. To check your prostate they have to go through your backside. But if it’s a matter of life and death it should be a no-brainer.”

The recording session was the perfect way to pay homage to his father, who always hoped his son would have a singing career.

Radio manager Shirley Ludford was inspired to launch Song Booth after her fiancé, popular radio DJ Ron Inglis, better known as Ron Travolta, died of a heart attack in August 2012.

“When he died last year my son James went and recorded a song for Christmas and it was all about his thoughts on him,” she said. “I thought there are all sort of reasons why people would want to sing. Music is very powerful.”

Song Booth will be now be a permanent fixture at Swindon 105.5. To book a session call 01793 611555 or email info@swindon1055.com with Song Booth as the subject.