Thoughts from the mind of Ben Welby

Tag: Movember

A Movember reflection on the US Presidential election

Every November since 2007 I have taken part in the annual facial hair fest that is Movember. I do this because men’s health matters – on average we die 4.5 years earlier than women, and for largely preventable reasons. If you enjoy this and want to support my efforts this year then I, and the causes Movember supports, would be very grateful. You can donate using this link.

In the aftermath of the US elections plenty of talking heads are providing razor-sharp analysis about the reasons Trump won and Harris didn’t. But I doubt anyone is giving you analysis about the sharpness of razors and their role in the race. So, let me plug that gap.

In becoming Donald Trump‘s Vice President, J. D. Vance becomes the first successfully bearded Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate to win over the American public in almost 100 years.

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Mo number 5

It’s November 1st and the last day I’ll be clean shaven until December because I’m one of four people at GDS who will be growing a Schnurrbart (the German is surely the best word for moustache) for Movember.

Movember began with a focus on prostate cancer, a cancer that’s affected people close to us. It’s the 4th most common cancer in the UK and the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst men: 1 in 9 of us are likely to face prostate cancer in our lifetimes (this is comparable to incidence of breast cancer).

Movember is no longer about a single cancer, it’s about getting us men to face up to our mortality and talk about our health by introducing comedy facial hair. Being serious is always better when there’s laughter. And laughter punctures pride and gets us talking and maybe prompts someone to see a doctor instead of thinking “I’ll be alright”.

Laughter also raises money (if you’d like to send some our way you can donate on the Movember website).

I enjoy this time of year but you can’t blame Christine if she doesn’t. Look at what she’s had to put up with over the last few years:

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