When Ugo Monye’s father died of prostate cancer in 2021, lockdown rules meant he had to watch his funeral on Zoom. “It’s sad that it happened that way – it couldn’t have felt more mechanical – but I’ve made peace with it now,” he says today.

The risk of prostate cancer increases if your father had the disease, but Monye admits he initially “put off” being tested because he was “scared” of what doctors might find. “How backwards is that?” says Monye, a sports pundit and former England rugby union star. “If I was worried they might find something, I should have gone yesterday instead of delaying it.”

Still, he acknowledges that procrastinating in this way is pretty standard behaviour for many males. “When we think there’s something wrong with our car, we go straight to the garage,” he says. “But we don’t always do that with health issues. And the thought that men are more attuned to listening to vehicles than our own bodies is something we really need to change.”

Get the latest news and insight into how the Big Issue magazine is made by signing up for the Inside Big Issue newsletter

This is where Movember (a portmanteau of “mo”, short for “moustache”, and November) comes in. Like all the best ideas, it’s a simple one. Every November, droves of previously clean shaven males grow a moustache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. Mental health and suicide prevention are a key focus, as are testicular and prostate cancer.

Since 2003, Movember has raised more than £790m globally, with five million “Mo Bros” and “Mo Sistas” taking part. “The community that Movember has grown over the last 21 years is absolutely massive,” says Monye, an ambassador for the charity. “And it needs to be massive to keep encouraging all these meaningful conversations about men’s health.”

Back in 2003, Movember was conceived over a beer by Melbourne mates Travis Garone and Luke Slattery. Lamenting the demise of the moustache since its 1970s heyday, when it was proudly sported by Hollywood stars including Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck, the pals joked about bringing it back into fashion.

At the time, a friend’s mother was collecting money for breast cancer, so they decided to tie their moustache revival to a fundraising and awareness drive in aid of prostate cancer. That year, 30 Mo Bros from their wider social group participated in the inaugural Movember challenge, each paying AU$10 for the privilege of fortifying their upper lip.

The concept caught on so quickly that Movember spread to New Zealand in 2006 and went truly global a year later when it launched in the UK, US, Canada and Spain. By this point, it had already funded 73 men’s health projects.

In 2024, that number has swelled to 1,300 and counting. In the UK, Movember has supported initiatives as varied as the Man Van, a converted motorhome that toured rugby league grounds dispensing health and wellbeing advice, and ongoing research into how online interactions can affect young men’s mental health.

Since 2017, it has awarded more than £9.6m to the Ironman Registry, a global database of men living with advanced prostate cancer. Its long-term aim is to collect information about the disease with a view to improving treatment and prevention.

The stats are absolutely chilling even if you know them already. In the UK, one in eight men will get prostate cancer, but among Black men this rises to one in four. Men should start talking to their doctors about prostate cancer when they hit 50, but if they’re Black and/or there’s a family history of the disease, they should begin these conversations at 40.

Ugo Monye for the Movember 2024 campaign

“No one knows why Black men are more affected, but it’s important for us to be even more vigilant,” says Monye. “I was speaking to a man with terminal prostate cancer the other day and he said to me: ‘I just want all men to develop a better relationship with their doctors.'”

Whereas older men face a greater risk of prostate cancer, testicular cancer is the most common form of the disease among younger guys. Movember’s Know Thy Nuts campaign aims to encourage men to check for lumps regularly by taking the stigma out of talking about this intimate part of the body.

Jack James Ryan, an actor known for his roles in Coronation Street and the ITV1 thriller Passenger, became a Movember ambassador to help spread the word. He was just 19 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and though he is now in remission eight years later, he is still dealing with the emotional repercussions.

“I remember the feeling of isolation, fear and vulnerability that came with my diagnosis, and how hard it was to find others who understood what I was going through,” he says. “That’s why Movember means so much to me – [because it’s] helping make space for us to have real conversations about men’s mental and physical health.”

Though signing up online to grow a moustache remains the most common way to take part, it’s far from the only option. Movember is also challenging Mos Bros and Mo Sistas to “move for mental health” by walking or running 60 km this month in as many outings as they like.

This initiative is designed to draw attention to the horrifying fact that globally, 60 men are lost to suicide every hour. Josh Ellwood, a Mo Bro from Balham in South London, has set himself the gruelling target of running seven marathons in seven days to “represent the day-to-day, weekly struggle of someone with suicidal thoughts”.

Ellwood was compelled to get involved with Movember because he lost two friends to suicide, a rugby teammate and a work colleague, while he was struggling with his own mental health issues. “Suddenly it felt like it was inevitable that it would soon be me [next],” he recalls. I didn’t have anyone to talk to; I felt alone and I didn’t have a purpose.”

Thankfully, Ellwood found a way out of his emotional black hole when he joined a running club where for the first time, he felt able to be “vulnerable” and talk about his mental health. “I can’t escape my depression, but I can fight it,” he says. “If you open up to people and share your experiences, you’ll be amazed at what people share back.”

Harry Clough, a Mo Bro from Hammersmith in West London, has also devised a bespoke Movember challenge – namely, running the entire 400 km length of the London Underground, line by line. He began his epic cardiovascular feat on 26 October by jogging to every stop on the Metropolitan line from Amersham in Buckinghamshire to Aldgate East.

Like Ellwood, Clough is supporting Movember because of its vital work raising awareness of mental health issues. When he began experiencing panic attacks several years ago as a university student, he had “no idea” what was happening to him.

“The work Movember do is so important and I only wish I’d known about them at university,” Clough says. “I’d never heard of anyone having panic attacks, and I felt embarrassed and alone. Now of course I know that a lot of men go through the same things as me.”

Movember may have started with 30 Mo Bros growing a moustache, but in 2024, there are no barriers whatsoever to getting involved. Since 2020, a non-binary option has been included on the online application form to make sure absolutely everyone feels seen when they join the fight to improve men’s health.

“Not everyone has the capacity to grow a moustache, but everyone has the capacity to join the conversation,” says Ugo Monye. “We all have a male figure in our life, whether that’s a friend, father, brother or son, and the ripple effects when they’re affected by these issues is so far-reaching. That’s why it’s so important to keep having these conversations.”

Sign up or donate to Movember here.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Vendor Support Kit.

men's health

Movember: Men being more attuned to their cars than their own bodies needs to change