Movember

It’s about to get hairy this month! Grow a moustache this November and raise money for men’s health. Men are dying too young and it is time to speak up.

The origins of Movember lies in the hands of two mates from Australia back in 2003. It began with a relaxed beer in a bar in Fitzroy when they began to talk about fashion trends. The moustache came into the topic and they joked about bringing it back into fashion. Inspired by a friend’s mother who had been fundraising for breast cancer, they decided to raise money for men’s health and prostate cancer by all growing moustaches. They devised a campaign and emailed it to people they thought might take up the challenge. 30 guys responded and took to the challenge with great enthusiasm. A year later, in 2004, it became a formalised concept where more people grew their moustache for a great cause.

The campaign is essentially to grow a moustache from the 1st to the 30th November and to get sponsored doing so. These funds raised will go towards mental health & suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. If growing a moustache isn’t easy for you or if you are female and want to help, there are lots of other ways to raise money.
Move For Movember where you run or walk 60km over the month for the 60 men we lose to suicide every hour across the world.

Host A Mo-ment and gather together some friends, virtually or in-person and do something fun and easy. For inspiration and information on how to host your own event, visit
www.uk.movember.com

Or you can always Mo Your Own Way by completing your own challenge whether it’s a physical one or kicking a bad habit.
It is important not to forget the reasons behind the moustaches. On average, men die 6 years earlier than women, this is a global statistic. This is largely preventable which means we have to speak up now to change this.

There are many different ways to prevent this statistic for example. Talk with friends but make sure these are people who make you feel good about yourself. You are more likely to open up to people who you are comfortable around. But it is also important to enjoy the time spent with friends, having a laugh and doing something fun.

This goes the other way too. Talk to your friends, ask them how they really are. You don’t have to be an expert psychologist to be able to make a huge and potentially life-changing difference.

Make sure you are aware of when you should be getting a PSA test. 50 is the age when you should be speaking to your doctor about prostate cancer and 45 if you are black or have a brother or father with prostate cancer.

You should be getting to know what’s normal for your testicles. This way you can visit the doctor when something doesn’t feel quite right. There is a comical video created by the charity called ‘know thy nuts’ to find out exactly what you should be checking for.

Lastly, it is important to pack in lots of exercises and keep active. This can have brilliant effects on your mental well-being, not to mention your physical health.

For any more information about Movember and how to get involved, visit their website,

www.uk.movember.com