DUNTON, UK – Here’s a sobering statistic. Sixty men globally are lost to suicide every hour, and according to charity Movember, each loss has a devastating impact on at least six close friends and family members.
Next month Ford kicks off its 19th Movember campaign, encouraging colleagues to help change the face of men’s health.
And while Movember is best known for participants growing moustaches, this year the focus is on making a ‘growmitment’ to reach out to the men in our lives, check in and start a conversation.
Ford chief MoBro Matt Loynes explains: “This year we’re asking people to challenge a friend or colleague to make their own ‘growmitment’. Let’s see how far we can spread this through Ford.
“The moustache might be the thing people notice but the conversations it starts are the bit that matters because real conversations really do change lives.”
Over the past 18 years, Ford MoBros across Europe have raised more than £180,000 for Movember. The movement started as a bristly idea between mates to grow moustaches, raise some money, and get people talking about men’s health.
Now it is the leading charity changing the face of men’s health on a global scale,
focusing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer by sparking important conversations and making men’s health impossible to ignore.
If you would like to join the OneFordOneMo team, click this link. Then, pick one thing you're prepared to do for men's health this Movember - grow, move, host, talk, give - or just make the commitment to properly check in on someone.
Matt adds: “Men die nearly five years earlier than women – mostly from preventable reasons. By making a ‘growmitment’, you can help stop men dying too young.”
Five Ways You Can Support Movember:
- GROW A MO - Start clean-shaven on 1 November and grow a moustache. Start conversations, raise awareness, and fund life-changing projects.
- MOVE FOR MOVEMBER - Set a movement goal — walk, run, cycle or swim — and get sponsored to support men’s mental and physical health.
- HOST A MO-MENT - Throw a BBQ, quiz night, or morning tea to raise funds with your community.
- MO YOUR OWN WAY - Take on a personal challenge or creative project to fundraise in your own style.
- DONATE - Give one-off or monthly.