Movember, the annual moustache-growing fundraiser for prostate cancer and men’s health initiatives, kicks off on Saturday. The money supports many worthy causes, including, for the first time in Movember history, advocacy.
“Movember has typically funded programs that support [men’s health], but now we’re actually developing an advocacy wing and a policy and a government relations wing,” said Mitch Hermansen, director of fundraising and development for Movember Canada.
“So we’re hosting an event on Parliament Hill in November, bringing together MPs, the federal government…basically advocating for a national men’s health strategy, which we don’t have and have never had in Canada. So, that’s really exciting that we’re taking a step to make a bigger change across the country.”
Movember Canada has also commissioned research to back up that advocacy — a 133-page report entitled “The Real Face of Men’s Health” released over the summer.
“It’s a [landmark] report. We included over 3,000 Canadians in it. We looked at what is the state of men’s health. Spoiler alert, it’s not the best. One of the biggest stats there was that 44 per cent of Canadian men won’t live to age 75.”
Hermansen says Movember itself continues to evolve. He says you don’t have to grow a moustache to take part.
“Last year, there was a guy out in Kitsilano who climbed the stairs at Wreck Beach 100 times in a day and it took him 16 hours. And that’s how he decided to support the movement,” said Hermansen.
“So, that’s really cool about how Movember is evolving and how the community is evolving, and how they support and get behind this cause. But then these initiatives also just generate a lot of awareness. People want to hear the stories and why they’re doing it.”
Head to ca.movember.com to find out more.