Warwick says ‘mo’ to cancer

This year’s Movember has been the most successful yet, raising £2,366 at the time of writing.

Individuals and sports teams of Warwick University have collectively fundraised by growing moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues and support related charities.

Funds raised by Movember in the UK go to the Institute of Cancer Research and The Prostate Cancer Charity which raise awareness and support research into male-specific cancers.

“Men’s cancer isn’t something people really talk about very often. [Movember] has got the team thinking about prostate cancer,” commented Luke Selzer, one of the captains of the Warwick Wolves American Football Team.

“If you’re an 18 year-old guy it’s not going to be at the top of your mind.”

The Warwick Wolves were the most successful fundraising team at Warwick, spearheaded by Charlie Douglas, the team’s community exec member. They also came sixteenth nationally amongst university Movember fundraising teams. The team managed to raise £666 for the Movember cause.

“As a team we raised a lot more than an individual could,” Selzer added, “so there’s a bit more of an impact when team members collectively fundraise. Once you had five doing it then a few more would join in and so on – eventually we had fifteen doing it.”

Michael Sinclair, fourth-year law student, raised £305 – the most raised individually at Warwick this year.

To encourage further fundraising, the Movember website offers merchandise such as moustache combs and tweed. It also offers the incentive of a free ticket to a Movember gala for every person who raises over £80.

“I think the overall branding of the charity this year has been really good,” Sinclair commented. “Year on year they increase the amount they raise by thousands and thousands of pounds. The branding gets better, the profile gets higher and more and more people grow moustaches.”

Sinclair also commented on the social aspect of growing a Movember moustache: “A lot of drunk people ask me for photographs. Also, while sitting in the library on your laptop, people sometimes steal the odd cheeky glance. I’m kind of looking forward to getting rid of my moustache, I have to admit.

“The moustache really divides people. Some people really like the idea and think that moustaches are cool. Other people, particularly girls I have to say, are a bit more disgusted by it. My mum likes it though.”

Sinclair added: “A lot of [Movember] is to do with finding the moustache quite funny. I’m not sure if they realise that you’re raising money for Movember, or whether they think it’s just that funny thing guys do for a month. Some people, myself included, are quite into making sure that people realise it is for charity and it’s very much about male-specific cancer research. I’m not quite sure how aware people are of that.

“Next year it would be cool to continue trying to get more impetus to the charity within the Warwick community.”