All throughout the month of November, now enthusiastically titled Movember, men throughout the world are growing their moustaches in aid of charity. In particular the charity raises money and awareness for prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
Research shows that men are less likely to visit their GP or talk about their ailments with a medical professional than women. Perhaps the doctor’s surgery is, generally speaking, not overly male friendly or women have more bodily issues. But the point is, the Movember charity is holding an admirable and ingenious event specifically for men. The act of growing a moustache throughout this month is great way to be a part of something fun for a good cause. The comradery, competition and large social presence of the event is fantastic for driving the campaign’s message as far as possible.
The end goal is not only about raising money, but is to educate men on the facts about the specific cancers that affect them, prostrate and testicular cancer. The official Movember website quotes the statistic, “one man in this country dies of prostate cancer every hour, of every day, more than 10,000 every year” Which really brings home the scale and importance involved. Encouraging that visit to the doctors is vital for early detection.
So how can we get involved? From the first of November the participants take a photo of themselves clean-shaven and then grow their ‘mo’ throughout the month, either in groups or individually. Money is raised through sponsorship, parties and merchandise as well as a massive presence on social networking sites.
Anna Skinner, captain of the ‘Mo diggedy’ team is quickly raising money with a series of fantastic photographs featuring moustaches in the style of recognisable people.
I think it’s great to see women getting involved in such a creative way and raising money for a worthwhile cause and I agree, “You never know who might be affected, or when. So raising awareness can only be a good thing.”
Last year over 112,000 UK individuals got on board and raised £11.7 million. So will those tash-topiaries to flourish and get involved this Movember.
Images by Anna Skinner
