Over November, Movember is unavoidable. There are signs and banners around, social media is full of Movember posts, there are charity runs and events, and most of the men you know are probably growing a moustache. Movember has successfully become one of the most prominent awareness-raising events of the year. But amongst all the shenanigans of charity events and moustache growing, it could be easy to forget what Movember is all about.
Movember was started in 2003 with the hope of raising awareness of menâs health issues and funds to improve menâs health research and support. While the main initiative taken to raise awareness of menâs health issues is encouraging men to grow a moustache over November, the movement has quickly come to encompass fund raising and community events too. Over the month, there have been fun runs, pub quizzes and more all in aid of Movember. As well as moustache growing, Movember have run a âMove for Movemberâ event this month, asking people to run or walk 60km in November for the sixty men lost to suicide globally every hour.
The charity Movember focuses on menâs health issues, with the main three currently being prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and menâs mental health. The charity is most well-known and talked about aspect of Movember is its aim to raise awareness of menâs mental health issues and prevent male suicide. Men are statistically more likely to take their own lives, but menâs mental health is only recently being a more widely discussed issue. Three out of four suicides in the UK are by men. Movember are running a âMovember Conversationsâ campaign online that hopes to help people understand how to have difficult conversations around mental health with the men in their lives who may be struggling. Helping people to open up and feel comfortable with talking about their mental health can be difficult, especially if they have preconceived ideas about being âmanlyâ and not being too emotional. The community impact of Movember is accumulated in the movement encouraging men to grow a moustache over November. It brings people together, raises awareness of the cause, and gets people talking about Movember â even if it is because of a few poorly grown moustaches.
Ultimately, Movember is not just about funny moustaches, charity fun runs or pub quizzes. There is a whole lot more behind the moustache. We can all learn from Movember. It is not just raising money or raising awareness of menâs health issues, it is opening up conversations about menâs mental health that might otherwise never be brought up. It creates a community awareness of these issues and collective opportunities to be open about menâs health, with lots of people involved in growing a moustache or attending a fund-raising event. At the end of November, if there is anything we can take from the month, let it be the skills and awareness to have difficult conversations with anyone in our lives who might be struggling with their health.
If you want to know more about Movember or find the âMovember Conversationsâ resource to learn more about facilitating conversations around menâs mental health, this is the Movember web page https://uk.movember.com/?home and below is the link to Movemberâs âMovember Conversationsâ resource.