Men’s hockey to shave off their facial hair for charity

Leeds University men’s hockey club members have sworn off shaving their moustaches for a month in aid of ‘Movember’, the annual fundraising event that aims to raise awareness of men’s health issues.
    Participants of ‘Movember,’ also known as ‘Mo Bros’, start November clean-shaven and then leave their moustaches to grow throughout the month in an effort to raise both funds and awareness for The Prostate Cancer Charity. 

    Although ‘Movember’ is a relatively new initiative in the UK, it has been taking place annually in Melbourne, Australia since 2003 where it first began as a challenge to make the moustache fashionable again.
    The following year the campaign evolved to become a fundraising event and has since expanded globally, raising more than £30 million for its partners in Australia, UK, US, Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Ireland.  
    The campaign has grown rapidly since its humble beginnings when only 30 men took part and last year saw 173,000 men worldwide getting involved to raise more than £14 million.
    The players were spurred on to join this year’s efforts following the recent deaths of two men connected to the club; John Vann, a Leeds University graduate and ex-player, who died from a brain tumor last month, and Andy Ginelly, a former doorman of Bourbon where the team frequently held their socials, who also died last month from prostate cancer.  
    These losses have provoked the club to organise and participate in a variety of charity events, including running marathons and leg-waxing.         They have so far raised £557 in aid of the Hospice in the Weald where Vann received care.
    The club first heard about ‘Movember’ through the Strawberryfields Cafe Bar, who have offered to sponsor the players £1 per moustache.
    Edd Wallis, the club’s social secretary, said of their efforts: “This is a fantastic way to increase awareness of men’s health issues: every time someone asks ‘why have you got a stupid moustache’ you have an opportunity to spread awareness of the cause.”
     One in six men suffer from the cancer in their lifetime.    
Want to get involved in the facial-hair evolution? Visit www.movember.com.

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