Mid October already?! Well, as anyone who’s known me for any length of time will be able to tell you, that time coincides with only one thing: the preparatory phases for…

MOVEMBER

Starting on October 31st with a clean-shaven face, then participants in Movember grow as much of a moustache as they can for the month of November (see – grow a mo, in November – Movember!), and whilst doing so we raise funds for mens’ health charities via the Movember movement.  In the UK this year it’s The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research, however the charities vary from country to country.

It’s a great way to raise awareness of mens’ health issues (because blokes have a tendency to not really go to the doctor, even if they need to), to raise funds for much-needed research and treatment programmes, and – visibly – to look silly for a month.

I’ve grown a mo in Movember since 2004, and last year our Whisky4Movember fundraising team totalled £1749, which was a stellar effort, and thanks to everyone’s generous contributions my personal contribution to that total was a magnificent £644!  And to be able to raise that sort of money for charity it was worthwhile to spend half of the month looking like an angry German.

In fact, once I’d hit the £500 mark I thought I’d better crank the ridiculousness handle a little – because I felt that sacrificing my dignity was worth it for that sort of money – and attempted to dye my moustache purple.  Unfortunately it wasn’t an overly effective gambit, and I ended up with a normal-ish coloured mo with a blonde streak along the bottom, and a chemically burnt top lip.  C’est la vie.

However it got me thinking that raising the stakes may be a way to raise more money for the cause, so I put on my special idea-generating hat, and have come up with the following:

If my Movember fundraising total reaches £1000 during November, I will shave my head as well.

In my mind this idea will conclude with a look that echoes the quiet dignity of someone like Sir Patrick Stewart, however somewhat more realistically I think what we’ll be seeing is something more akin to a moustacheod George “The Animal” Steele.  But, so be it.

If you’d like to make a modest donation to the Movember cause, you can do so on my MoSpace fundraising site:

http://mobro.co/jasonbstanding

Any and all donations gratefully accepted!

I’ll be keeping the site updated with progress photos (mo-gress?) of how this year’s lip slug is coming along, and of course if we do hit the magic £1k mark then I’ll have to think of some way of “rewarding” you commensurately.

As I mentioned – the Whisky4Movember team will be operating again this year: we’ll be running a couple of special Movember whisky tastings with proceeds going to the Movember charities…  first tasting to announce is the Whisky Squad Movember Tasting (for which there are still a few seats available) on Tuesday Movember 22nd!  Keep your eyes on the site (or the Whisky4Movember Facebook Page) for further info on tastings & soforth…

So yes – it’s a great cause.  Please give whatever you can, and I’ll do what I can to stretch your entertainment dollar further.

Incidentally – if you’d like to sign up and get involved in Movember, there’s still plenty of opportunity to do so!  As well as raising money for a great charity, there’s loads of prizes and incentives for fundraisers, free burgers, and of course if you join the Whisky4Movember team there’s also discounted whisky tasting opportunities as well!