During the month of November, the School once again supported the men’s health charity Movember. Sixth Form boys and male members of staff were encouraged to donate £5 to grow a Mo and there were some interesting results! The aim was to raise awareness of men’s health issues including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. We were delighted to welcome Chris Wall, a Movember ambassador to talk in Chapel about Movember and all the amazing work it does globally to raise awareness of men’s health issues. He said men die on average 4.5 years earlier than women and for largely preventable reasons and that suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged between 20 and 34 in the UK. He encouraged all members of the School community regardless of gender to ‘Remember ALEC’ – Ask the question, Listen without judgement, Encourage action and Check in.

Following Chris’s presentation, tutors led discussion sessions in tutor time using some excellent Movember resources and encouraged pupils to touch base regularly with their friends and family. There was plenty of other fund raising going on for Movember as well; Woodlands ran in excess of 100km in 30 minutes on a cold and windy night, Oakeley ran 60km around the House and at the end of Movember there was a charity auction to shave off Mr Sharrock’s moustache and Mr Liberman’s beard! However, the most poignant moment of Movember was when 7 members of male staff (Mr Beales, Mr Myres, Mr Majid, Mr Hyatt, Mr Pienaar, Mr Womack and Mr Sharrock) spoke about personal experiences to the Lower and Upper Sixth in Chapel during their Monday afternoon Enrichment slot. These ranged from fatherhood and crying to juggling family life and masculinity. We thank them for their honesty and their talks had a profound impact on the Sixth Form.

Next year, we want to go bigger and better and hope to set up a Movember Ambassador programme. It is not too late to donate, please do support our cause by clicking this link: Gresham’s does Movember or scanning the QR code.