Thursday 3 November 2011

Movember 2011 - week 1

2011 marks my sixth year participating in Movember at Rackspace, and I’m proud once again to be growing my Mo for charity. But what is Movember, and just what is a Mo?!

Movember is the month formerly known as November, where gentlemen across the world unite and grow a moustache, or “Mo”, for charity. Known as “Mo Bros”, these fearless men attempt to grow the most ridiculous Mo they can, and ask their friends and family to sponsor their Mo. Movember originated in Australia, and supports national Prostate Cancer charities – in the UK, it’s the Prostate Cancer Charity that benefits from all these funds that are raised.

Prostate cancer is a disease that over 100 men are diagnosed with each day in the UK, and will affect most of us in one way or another throughout our lives. Each year I proudly wear my Mo, I find more and more people who have been affected by this terrible disease. The Prostate Cancer Charity supports and informs men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and also fund vital research into the causes, treatment and prevention of prostate cancer.
To be honest, Movember has to be the easiest way I’ve ever helped a charity – in the past, I've run marathons, climbed mountains and cycled from London to Brighton. With Movember, all I need to do is stop shaving my upper lip for a month. All everyone else needs to do is enjoy the spectacle, have a laugh and sponsor my Mo.

In my six years of Movember, I’ve found that the Movember message has spread further and further afield – each year I meet more people who are joining in. Just yesterday I was in a meeting with one of my suppliers and noticed that his upper lip was looking stubblier than usual – it turned out that he too was growing a Mo. Many sports personalities and teams are now getting involved, and helping spread the word. If we can raise the profile of prostate cancer and other men’s health issues, and help make people aware of how to recognise the early symptoms, then we can help to prevent many needless deaths.

Back to the now though – it’s day three, and already I’m noticing that this years’ growth has more white patches than previous years. Thank goodness for “Just for Men” moustache dye – without it, my ginger and white moustache would be quite shocking to behold! My wife and children haven’t complained yet about the stubble, but when I told my eight year old son I was growing a Mo again, he was horrified! I’m certain that they will all be much more horrified towards the end of the month as my Mo blossoms!

I have been able to recruit 30 other male Rackers this year to unite with me in hairy upper lipness, which includes a large number of colleagues in our Amsterdam office. We also have a number of Rackers in our San Antonio and Austin offices who are joining in, making this a truly global Rackspace effort! Each year in the London office, we have a Mo-Off at the end of the month, where all of our Mo Bros strut their stuff on a catwalk (or Mo Walk, if you will?!) and award one Mo Bro the title of “Rackspace Man of Movember”.
Over the past six years at Rackspace, we have raised almost £20,000 for the Prostate Cancer Charity, just through Movember. I am proud to participate each year, and look forward to continuing to raise more funds with Movember in the years to come.

If you’d like to donate to the Rackspace Movember team, please click here – all donations go straight to the Prostate Cancer Charity.