Thousands of men in UK shave off moustaches as Movember ends

LONDON - As the month of November ended, thousands of men in Britain were very ecstatic, reason being that they could finally cut off the moustaches they had been growing to bring awareness of prostate cancer.

The men had been growing their Mos, or moustaches to the uninitiated, from the start of November, turning the month into Movember.

The idea for Movember was hatched in Melbourne, Australia in 2003, and a group of friends had taken inspiration from the pink ribbon breast cancer awareness campaign, to start one on men’s health.

The UK got in on the act in 2007 when around 1 million pounds was raised for the main beneficiary, The Prostate Cancer Charity.

This year more than 110,000 people have registered on the website and so far they’ve raised around 6.1 million pounds, although the charity believes that the final figure could be closer to 10 million pounds.

Men who take part start with a clean-shaven face on November 1st, and then they don’t shave their top lip until November 30th, and there are no beards, no goatees and no joining up sideburns with a ‘tache.

Movember has proved to be a huge boost to The Prostate Cancer Charity both in terms of a sudden surge in their income as well as raising awareness of the disease among notoriously hard to reach men.

“We can get to guys in their 30s and 40s in a way that has just not been possible,” the BBC quoted Mark Bishop, the charity’s director of fundraising, as saying.

“This is a movement for men, rather than a campaign. 250,000 men are living with prostate cancer each year; 10,000 will die each year. Men are acting proactively around their health in a way we’ve not seen before.

“The truth is many guys find it tough to take health messages on board, particularly when it’s about down below,” he stated. (ANI)