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Those of you who are taking part in Movember may have a decent looking moustache by now! Well done and I hope your fundraising campaigns are going well.
If you don’t know what the Movember Foundation is (we are not making it up, we promise) read on to find out what it is all about.
Around November each year, you may have noticed – especially pre lock-down – more moustaches and beards being fashioned (mostly by men!). This is not because winter is setting in and we are trying to keep warm – we have hats and scarves for that! It is actually because every year in November millions of people from all over the world take part in a fundraising campaign, where people are sponsored to grow a moustache (and sometimes a beard) from the 1st November to the 30th November.
It began in Australia back in 2003 when two friends decided they wanted to tackle concerns relating to men’s health – in particular, prostate cancer. Since then, the charity have added other areas they want to address as part of their cause, which are; testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity, as well as prostate cancer.
Take a look at the foundation’s origin story below:
https://uk.movember.com/about/history
https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/01/movember-woman-facial-hair-13447647/
If growing a moustache is not for you, don’t worry because you can get sponsored to fundraise for the charity in other ways i.e. by doing a run or walk or hosting a virtual/physical group activity i.e. a dance marathon (danceathon) or a 24 hour stay awake or if you are feeling brave, you could trek or climb a mountain. Check out the site for more information.
Don’t worry if you wanted to take part this year but didn’t get the chance, you can start planning for next years’ Movember campaign now! Take a look at their site using the links above, for the rules and more info. The Foundation also has an app (search for Movember) that you can download for free.
Testicular Cancer Links:
https://orchid-cancer.org.uk/testicular-cancer/ – national charity for information and support for those affected by/or are interested in learning about testicular cancer.
https://baggytrousersuk.org/ – charity raising awareness of testicular cancer.
https://www.testicularcanceruk.com/ – Checkemlads! A charity that raises awareness and offers support.
Mental Health Links:
https://cwmind.org.uk/children-and-young-peoples-service/ – Coventry and Warwickshire Mind’s children and young people’s service.
https://www.kooth.com/ – an online mental wellbeing community.
https://cwrise.com/ – emotional and mental wellbeing services for children and young people of Coventry.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/ – supporting mental health in young people.
https://ittakesballstotalk.com/about-us/ – a campaign started in Coventry and Warwickshire that encourages us all, especially men, to talk! They have a list of local charities and organisations that you can contact by clicking on the “Get support” tab.
https://cwmind.org.uk/young-black-men-2/ – a service launched especially to address the mental health concerns of young black men.
https://www.thecalmzone.net/issues/mentalhealth/ – Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) run services to bring people together and get them talking. Take a look at their site for more information.
Sexual Health Links:
https://youngandfree.org.uk/join-the-c-card-scheme/ – for more information about Chlamydia and the C-Card scheme.
https://www.ishs.org.uk/c-card-and-chlamydia-screening/ – for more information about Coventry’s Chlamydia screening service and the C-Card scheme.
https://www.freetest.me/ – to order your free home STI test kit.
