This November, the Wellington College International Shanghai staff are embracing ‘The Mo’, setting themselves up for ridicule, cat calls and an abundance of puzzled glances from all whose eyes settle on their respective face fuzz.

Every November men around the world grow comedic mustaches to raise funds and awareness for men's health. The movement, called Movember (Mo being short for mustache) has been a feature of Wellington College in the UK for the past few years following the loss of a much loved teacher Jimmy Heigham to Cancer at the age of 26.

‘Movember’ was a concept which started over ten years ago in Australia, and has grown considerably each year. Since 2003 millions has joined the men’s health movement raising over £402 million and funding over a thousand programmes focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity.

So why does men’s health need promotion? Why does it need a specific charity?

A study by “Everyman Male Cancer Campaign” found that men visited a family doctor half as much as women - a very dangerous statistic as it means that men are less likely to have serious illnesses such as cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular disease diagnosed, in the more treatable early stages.

Furthermore, there are male specific diseases such as prostate and testicular cancers, which claim the lives of over a million men worldwide each year (Cancer Research UK). A specific example of this is Ex English premiership football player John Hartson, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2009. Due to his late diagnosis, he was given a 60% chance of survival rather than the 99% survival rate with early treatment. Thankfully, Mr. Hartson, with surgery and chemotherapy, survived and he now campaigns for men’s health.

Testicular cancer is found predominantly found in males aged 25-34, an age where men are least likely to visit a family doctor, the aim of Movember is to raise awareness of men’s health to stop lives being lost due to embarrassment or lack of understanding.

Movember at Wellington

10 staff members have taken on the challenge and have already suffered the ignominy of a wispy shadow on their upper lip in days one and two and have spent hours agonising over styles of tache' and the subsequent daily sculpting and shaping. Their friends and partners are torn between enjoyment, embarrassment and in some case repulsion! Pupils, too, are enjoying the opportunity to make fun of our normally beautifully presented, highly talented teachers, who are now willing to forgo their usual dapper, reserved and highly professional appearance for something altogether more silly.

The Movember team of Wellington teachers is looking for donations and support for their cause. You can donate in any of the following ways;

• In person - please pass on any money either directly to one of the teachers taking part, or via your daughter or son.
• Just giving - www.justgiving.com/Wellington-College

Pupils will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite Mo at the end of the month (for a small cost) and the ‘winner’ will be announced thereafter.

Adam Shaw is the Deputy Head of Pastoral and Head of Boarding at Wellington College. Adam was a founding member of staff at our sister school in Tianjin. His passions as a youngster are those that have shaped his life - art, design and sport and these were the subjects, along with English, that he enjoyed the most at school. Adam also had some success on the sports field, particularly in football and cricket where he played at regional level.

Dr Charles Debieux is the Head of Biology at Wellington. He began his formal education at the University of Leeds, UK, in Biochemistry and Medical Biochemistry, followed by a Masters in Research. His research was on blood vessel development after the onset of a stroke and how modern genetics can be used to regrow blood vessels to the oxygen starved part of the brain, a process known as Angiogenesis. Following this Charlie began a PhD in Molecular Biology at Newcastle University, UK, where he conducted research on the childhood disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy, published numerous papers in international journals and presented at a scientific conference in New York.

Charlie continued his research career, in the field of Bioengineering at the University of Exeter, funded by the British Research Council and Shell UK. This research was focused on genetically engineering Micro-organisms to produce Bio-diesel and remove pollutants caused by extracting fossil fuels. During this project he discovered and named a novel gene and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA).