Posted: Sun 4th Nov 2012

Tashes are Go! Movember gets underway in Wrexham

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Sunday, Nov 4th, 2012

It’s that time of the year – the clocks have gone back, the dust has settled on Halloween and everyone’s stocking up on fireworks. November is here again and predictably every high street store is gearing its sales towards Christmas. Pay attention over the next few weeks though and there’s something else you may notice. That would be the increasing amount of males around Wrexham sporting fetching facial hair growth – more specifically, moustaches.

November 1st marks the beginning of the worldwide money-raising phenomenon; Movember. A portmanteau of the slang word ‘mo’ for moustache and ‘November’ the annual, month-long event has surged in popularity in recent years and has transformed into something resembling a cult movement.

The camaraderie amongst males that The Movember Foundation engenders sometimes obscures its noble intentions; by encouraging men (“Mo Bros”) to get involved, it aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, ultimately reducing the number of preventable deaths.

Along with the tagline ‘Changing the face of men’s health’, the annual growth of moustaches seeks to raise awareness, specifically with regard to prostate and testicular cancer. With the male population in Britain living, on average, six years shorter than their female counterparts, Movember is beginning to promote healthy living and regular health checkups as part of its annual message. Additionally, the Foundation is looking at tackling mental health problems for the first time. That awareness is now bearing fruit; Movember was listed this year amongst the top 100 non-government organizations in the world.

In that spirit, we at Wrexham.com are looking for any willing Wrexhamites to share their own efforts at raising awareness and, most significantly, money for this worthy cause. The universal appeal of Movember can be encapsulated in one word; fun – and that is reflected in those across Wrexham who are taking part this year.

AVOX Movemberites from 2011

Avox, based on Wrexham Industrial Estate, are now entering their third Movember year, an initiative co-ordinated by Lewis Jones in aid of his Team Manager Marton Hayes who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and is now three years in remission. Having raised £3,800 between 2010 and 2011, they are seeking to break the £5,000 barrier for 2012. With a group of 30 ‘Mo Bro’s’ and 15 ‘Mo Sista’s’ participating the aim is to raise awareness and donations through quizzes, games and bake sales, whilst, at the end of the month, a prize ceremony will look to reward:

  • Man of Movember – for the ‘Mo Bro’ who grows the best moustache.
  • Miss Movember – for the ‘Mo Sista’ who wears the best fake moustache (on the final day).
  • The Avox Lame-Mo Award – a booby prize for the Mo Bro who grows the worst moustache.

Their page can be found here: http://uk.movember.com/team/420201

Along with that, some inspirational contributions from last year, and a photo of the team at the beginning of this year’s effort:

The AVOX group taking part in 2012!

Another proud moustache-bearer in the local area is Paul Griffiths, the manager of Wrexham’s Pizza Hut branch, who has been supporting the cause for the last three years. Paul was keen to get involved in order to raise money for loved ones who had been diagnosed with cancer, and, in his job at Pizza Hut, he has seen a noticeable surge in the popularity of Movember in recent years. Paul is aiming to raise over £100 this year, and you can help by following the link to his fundraising page:

http://mobro.co/PaulGWXM

Paul hard at work sporting his tash

The great appeal with Movember is how it unites people together in aid of a greater cause, something highlighted by a campaign embarked upon by the Psychology department at Glyndŵr University this year, where both students and staff are raising awareness and funds together. The Psychology course director, Phill de Prez, took part last year having come across the movement on radio. This year the idea has expanded and further publicised among staff and students with Professor Chris Lewis organizing a series of ‘mug shots’ to chart the daily progress of his own work of art, whilst the 28th of ‘Mo’vember will mark the pan-gender ‘Wear a Moustache’ day. Students have been encouraged to abide by academic procedures and reference their facial style to some of the most iconic wearers – be it Burt Reynolds, Groucho Marx, Magnum PI, Freddy Mercury, or, in Phill’s case, Asterix the Gaul. The department is firmly committed to, along with raising awareness, promoting research into men’s health that can go a long way to combating the 30,000 diagnoses of prostate cancer each year.

They can be found here: http://mobro.co/5011161

Here, as well, is a link to the official Movember UK website, which includes details of its startling growth, the numerous events on offer over the coming weeks and ways that you can get involved: http://uk.movember.com/about/

Are you taking part in Movember? Tell us your story (email [email protected]) and send over some before and after pics!



Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]



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