Assemble your Mo Bros (Picture: Getty Images)
Depending on your interests, the start of November marks a few things: No Nut November, the end of Halloween, the start of the festive season – or Movember.
The latter will see men across the world ditching their razors for 30 days, all in the name of raising awareness – and money – for men’s health issues.
Mental health is one of the main issues Movember focuses on – with the campaign aiming to raise awareness of suicide prevention while highlighting the available support for those in crisis.
However, it also focuses on other aspects of men’s health, including prostate cancer – which affects over 10 million men worldwide – and testicular cancer, the most common form of the disease among men aged 15 to 39.
So let’s remind ourselves just what Movember is, and what the rules are.
What is Movember in aid of?
Millions of people have taken part in Movember since in began in 2003 (Picture: Getty Images)
Movember aims to raise awareness of men’s health issues, and it started back in 2003 after two friends, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, questioned why the moustache had fallen out of fashion.
They challenged themselves and 30 others to take up the challenge of growing a tache.
The challenge was a success so they ramped it up the next year, in 2004, and donated funds to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA), where the men were from.
PCFA came on board as their first official men’s health partner the following year and in 2007 they were joined by Prostate Cancer Foundation (US), Prostate Cancer Canada, The Prostate Cancer Charity (UK) and the FEFOC (Spain).
The campaign aims to raise awareness for men’s issues (Picture: Getty Images)
Since then, the campaign has partnered with countless other health organisations and more than 5 million people have taken part.
The campaign has also moved beyond focusing solely on prostate cancer awareness and moved on to general, widespread health issues such as testicular cancer and men’s suicide.
What are the Movember rules?
The first step is simply registering on Movember.com.
Once you’ve done that, you must comply with the following rules:
Start with a clean-shaven face
You have to start the month with a clean slate (Picture: Getty Images)
That’s right, you need to start from scratch, so if you’ve already got some stubble then it’s time to shave it off.
Your whole face should be clean-shaven, including your upper lip, sideburns and handlebar zones.
For the entire month of Movember, you must grow and groom a moustache
How do you plan to style your face fuzz? (Picture: Getty Images)
While you’re allowed to do some light grooming, you must keep your moustache for the entirety of November.
Not sure what kind of tache you fancy? Check out Movember’s helpful style guide.
We’re a fan of the Trucker, but that’s just us.
Beards, goatees and fake moustaches don’t count
It doesn’t matter how it’s styled, but it must be a moustache (Picture: Getty Images)
Unable to grow a moustache, or just not confident enough to stick with it? Then this challenge may not be for you.
But don’t worry, you can still donate to a participating Mo Bro.
Use the power of the moustache to create conversation and raise funds for men’s health
Use the month to end the stigma around men’s issues (Picture: Getty Images)
Let’s face it, whether you’re sporting full-blown handlebars or a slug on your upper lip, it’s bound to start some conversations.
Use your newfound power for good.
MORE : I’m doing Movember to prove that women shouldn’t be ashamed of their facial hair
Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Share your views in the comments below
Assemble your Mo Bros, and get growing.
