Students and staff at Robert Gordon University (RGU) have been urged to join forces to raise to raise funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer during Movember.
The month-long campaign challenges men to grow a moustache for the 30-days of November, thereby changing their appearance and the face of men’s health.
Many staff and students from RGU take part in Movember and this year their efforts can be combined through the campaign’s fundraising website.
RGU:RAG, the fundraising arm of Robert Gordon University’s Students’ Union, has created an RGU network where each of the participating teams contributes to an overall total for the university.
Marty McGouran, RGU:RAG Chair, is working with colleagues to co-ordinate the university’s fundraising effort this year.
He said: “Students and staff at RGU have been very supportive of the Movember campaign over the years and we’re keen to link as many of the fundraising totals together as possible.
“The university network gives us the opportunity to have a team leaderboard across RGU and to see how all the individuals and teams are getting on. It will also provide us with an entire RGU total at the end of the month.”
A number of events are planned on campus throughout November to raise awareness of the campaign and to help the participants to raise as much money as possible.
Since Movember was established in 2003 more than £300m has been raised worldwide for research into prostate and testicular cancer.
RGU’s ‘Fit for the Future’ initiative will focus on cancer awareness in November and shared information with staff and students through the campaign’s blog.
RGU accommodation manager, Ian Webster, will be taking part in Movember after giving it a go for the first time last year, raising hundreds of pounds in the process.
He said: “I really enjoyed my first year of Movember and it means a lot to have raised hundreds of pounds for such a great cause. I’m particularly interested in raising awareness of mental health awareness issues which I’m very passionate about.
"Having something so visible, especially towards the end of the month, generates engagement with people and you can explain what you are doing and why.
“I’m going to keep the moustache after the challenge and then do a ‘Beard December’ to keep the Mo-mentum going.”
There’s still time to register to take part in Movember, either individually or as part of a team, which can be done by visiting: http://uk.movember.com
RGU students, staff and teams can then join the university’s network page by searching for ‘RobertGordon’ on the challenge’s page which is captained by Ian Webster.