Movember: looking daft for men’s health

A guest blog by Miles Martin, UkrTashBud, Mo-Team, British Embassy Kyiv

You may notice over the coming weeks (thirty days to be precise) that a number of the gentlemen of the British Embassy in Kyiv will be sporting an increased amount of facial hair.  Moustaches in fact.  Such a co-ordinated outbreak may at first glance seem strange, but the month of November has been hijacked in many countries around the world by the ‘Movember’ movement – and it has arrived in the heart of Kyiv.

Movember is a charitable organisation which raises awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer and related charities.  Last year Movember raised a stunning total of £48.5 million.  It did so by encouraging individuals and teams of volunteers to grow a moustache.

The British Embassy team, called UkrTashBud, has a web-page here where you can sponsor the brave gentlemen concerned in their hirsute endeavours.

Some of the reasons the eight of us are getting involved are:

• 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
• This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
• 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women.

Donations can be made on the above link.  There are many fascinating statistics throughout the well-designed and informative site (as I type, the hourly updated totals show that £3.8 million has already been raised this year, with £940,000 of that originating in the UK).  There are also links to relevant charities supported by the effort and plenty of information about what good work has been done in light of the efforts of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas (yes the ladies can get involved too) around the world.  I would encourage readers to take some minutes to browse the site, and revisit it regularly to see how the Mo’s develop and how the fundraising total rises!