This month is Movember and we’re looking back at the campaign that centres on facial hair.
It is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during November to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide.
Run by the Movember Foundation, at movember.com, its goal is to ‘change the face of men’s health’.
By encouraging men (whom the charity refers to as ‘Mo Bro’) to get involved, Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths.
Along with having annual check-ups, the Movember Foundation urges them to be aware of any family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Using a moustache as its symbol, Movember focuses on the three key areas of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention.
Since its inception, the Movember Foundation has raised $837 million and funded more than 1,200 projects in more than 20 countries, running events in Australia and New Zealand since 2004.
In 2007, events were launched in Ireland, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States. As of 2011, Canadians were the largest contributors to the Movember charities of any nation.
In 2010, Movember merged with the testicular cancer event Tacheback.
In 2012, the Global Journal listed Movember as one of the world’s top 100 Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).
As our pictures show, Cumbrians of all ages – including a woman and two schoolboys – have sported moustaches in support of the campaign.
In 2015, Dave Wardrope, 35, from Harraby, even had his face featured on bottles of HP brown sauce after winning a Movember social media competition.
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