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What are the impacts of Movember?
The Re-flow team is edging towards the end of the month, with moustaches named and fully grown. The “Movember Five” – Mike Saunders, Ashley Wing, Josh Sims, Jon Pittock and Graham Pardoe - have been brightening the office with their dapper facial hair and generating some very generous donations for the charity.
Movember was founded in 2003 – the movement began with only 30 members, or rather, 30 moustaches. From the beginning, the goal was to shine a light on the health crisis affecting men around the globe. On average, men will die 4.5 years earlier than women. While there’s a myriad of reasons contributing to this, Movember decided to focus on the three main culprits – prostate cancer, testicular cancer and the disproportionate number of men losing their lives to suicide.
Although these are largely preventable issues, a growing number of men – around 10.8 million globally – are facing life with a prostate cancer diagnosis. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 69% of all suicides.
Movember is uniquely placed to address this crisis on a global scale. Since 2003, the movement has funded 1,250 ground-breaking projects all over the world. Among these has been the development of 54 new inventions, 70 therapies and 107 diagnostic tests for prostate cancer. Movember unites the brightest minds to find the best ways to engage men where they are to understand what works best and accelerate change. This includes educating men, creating tailor-made services and most importantly, listening to their community.
The true impact of the charity cannot be quantified, affecting countless lives across the globe in just under 20 years, now reaching 5 million moustaches worldwide. In the UK alone, Movember raised £14.1 million in 2021, and £65.4 million globally. Over its lifetime, the funds raised have amounted to a staggering £802 million. It’d be an understatement to say that the state of men’s health would be very different without the crucial advances Movember has enabled.
At Re-flow, men’s health is an issue we hold close to our hearts. Earlier this year, our Managing Director, Mike Saunders ran 400 miles across 4 weeks and raised 4,000 for PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide. With Movember, we want to continue our efforts in shining a light on the issues affecting men as a whole, but in particular, men within the industries we serve. The construction industry alone is disproportionately affected by male suicide, with the number of men losing their lives to suicide being twice as high as the national average.
With the month slowly drawing to a close, we’re hoping to get our £500 fundraising goal across the line so that we can do our part for this incredible charity and cause. We’ve been posting updates on our social media, as well as a series of quick tips on maintaining good mental health. If you’d like to see how our team stays healthy and relaxed, stay tuned into our social channels. There’s a lot more exciting content in store before the month’s end. In the meantime, we appreciate any support to our efforts – no matter the size.
