Barclays employees will be growing marvellous moustaches and funky facial hair for Movember to help raise money for Hospice Isle of Man and Manx Cancer Help this month.
Employees will be avoiding the clean shaven look throughout the whole of November for the annual event organised by UK charity Movember Foundation raising sponsorship from friends, family and colleagues for their hair growing efforts.
Hospice Isle of Man and Manx Cancer Help will be the beneficiaries from this initiative along with the UK charity Movember. They have organised a number of key dates throughout the month in order to raise awareness of men’s health issues.
Movember involves men growing a moustache for the whole month of November with the aim of promoting men’s health issues. Part of the charity’s remit is to promote self-checks for prostate and testicular cancer.
An official launch was held at Barclays Bank, Victoria Street, Douglas on Friday 31st October at 11am. The main driver behind the campaign is a committee of staff from Barclays which includes Mark England and John Ferguson.
The charities are delighted to be working together with a common aim of raising awareness for these particular types of cancer. Hospice has organised a number of key events which include display and information days on Men’s Health Awareness. A display stand will be situated in Elaine’s coffee shop during the whole month of Movember which will contain leaflets in connection with men’s health.
Thursday 27th November will see a special one-off men’s health awareness event between 2pm-4pm at Scholl Centre. We are delighted that the Urology Nurse Specialist will be available and would encourage the Island’s male population to drop in during this time.
Another event will be held on Friday 21st November 11am-2pm at Ronaldsway Airport. This is an Isle of Man ‘self - care week’ and Hospice has joined forces with Primary Care to promote Movember with several charities highlighting services available.
Manx Cancer Help’s Lisa Lowe Centre at Tromode will be open on Tuesday 11th November between 1pm and 7pm and anyone, male or female, is most welcome to come along and meet our therapists and staff and sample our homemade cakes!
In addition there will also be a number of “Pop up psychotherapy and counselling shops” at various sporting events throughout November. These will be manned by members of Manx Cancer Help therapy team who will be available to talk about the services they offer and the importance of supporting your mental health. Further details will be available next week on our website on www.manxcancerhelp.org.
To wrap up the whole month of events Mark England from Barclays has organised a Movember gala to be held on Friday 28th November at the Courthouse. Tickets are ?10 with all proceeds being divided between the three charities. The ticket will include entry to a prize draw and light buffet. Tickets are available from Hospice Isle of Man, Manx Cancer Help and the Barclays branch in Victoria Street.
“It’s great that so many members of the Barclays team will be taking part in Movember and we’re looking forward to seeing all the impressive moustaches at the gala event at the end of the month – it promises to be a hairy night,” said Mr England.
“Raising awareness of men’s health issues along with raising much-needed funds for two local charities is serious business but it’s great that we can do both these things while taking part in a fun and light-hearted initiative.
“Barclays has a fantastic community investment programme that encourages employees to get involved in the causes we care about. It’s about giving back our skills, time and energy to support our local communities – so we’re thrilled to be taking part.”
Barclays, Jackie Nickson, Urology Nurse Specialist at Noble’s Hospital along with the 2 local charities will be working hard to raise awareness of men’s health during Movember. Jackie has mentioned that Mr Iyer, an Associate Specialist at Noble’s will also be taking part in Movember. The Urology Department are supporting men’s health awareness as part of their ongoing health promotion. There will be display boards in Noble’s and around the island with information concerning covering a wide range of urological related men’s health conditions e.g. prostate, testicular, bladder, kidney cancer and smoking cessation etc.
Jackie mentioned during 2013 there was 52 cases of prostate, 24 cases of bladder, 6 of testicular and 16 of renal cases so any self-checks and awareness of signs is a good thing.
Terri Cook, Corporate Events fundraiser for Hospice said: “We are delighted that Barclays is getting involved with us for this fun initiative and hope that the local male population take the chance to obtain more information about prostate and testicular cancer during this Movember month!
“Since talking to the guys at Barclays about this issue I have been doing some reading on the Movember website and it clearly states knowledge is power, prevention is everything, early detection is key so why not drop in to one of these days and ask a few questions.”
Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Chambers said: “At Manx Cancer Help we offer specialised psychological support and that complements the important work that Hospice are doing around the Movember initiative perfectly. We offer a totally confidential and non-clinical environment and appointments with male or female specialists.
“With all the media hype around male cancers and the potential embarrassment of having to discuss this in detail, it is often difficult to look for psychological support when you need it. But the Movember website states that mental health and wellbeing is equally important as physical wellbeing. It is now well documented that they are interlinked and many of the things that help with our physical health (e.g. physical activity/exercise) also improve our mental health.
“Mental health problems in men can often go undetected or untreated. The reasons for this are numerous and complex but can often be attributed to a lack of awareness that there is a problem in the first place. Men may not be able to recognise or confidently articulate the signs and symptoms that they experience. There is additional pressure due to associated stigma (shame and embarrassment) preventing them from taking action and accessing mental health services. Some men can instead engage in risk taking behaviour to numb or avoid the real problems they face. To many men, being “manly” means not admitting any vulnerabilities or expressing emotions. However, men are not alone in what they are experiencing.
“We know that a large proportion of people affected by cancer experience significant emotional problems and we would urge anyone who has been affected by this issue or are worried about the chance of being so in the future to come and see how we can help.”
For more details re Hospice Isle of Man, visit www.hospice.org.im or for Manx Cancer Help visit www.manxcancerhelp.org
Pictured are the staff at Barclays who are getting involved with Movember with Mary Doyle and Terri Cook from Hospice, Jackie Nickson, Urology Nurse Specialist from Noble’s Hospital and Ally Martin from Manx Cancer Help – all of whom are looking suspiciously hairy!
Photo credit: John Maddrell, Hospice Volunteer Photographer.
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