Overview of Team Heka's Move for Movember

On Monday Team Heka finished a month of raising money for Movember. We collectively managed to raise over £1,800, which will all go towards funding life-saving research for men’s health.

Highlights of the month

Heka's CEO Alex completed his 4 X 60 Move for Movember challenge, which included 60km of running, 420km cycling, lifting 60,000kg, over 100km of rowing, and 2190 press-ups, for the 2190 men who are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year.

Earlier in the month, Alex challenged the Heka team to raise £1,000 for Movember, agreeing to wear a Welsh rugby shirt for a week if we met this target. Since we’ve exceeded this target he'll be wearing a Welsh rugby shirt as a forfeit, which as a keen England supporter he's not looking forward to...

Over the month we had the opportunity to speak with some of the people and organisations dedicated to changing the face of men's health.

Mental health campaigner and Movember Ambassador James Martin shared daily videos on his LinkedIn page throughout November, opening up about his mental health experiences, inspiring other men to do the same.

Here are 3 things we learned from James' videos:

• 25% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are men. , however as this issue tends to be associated with young women only, it often results in delayed diagnoses and tragically higher fatality rates. Going forward, this is an issue we'll be talking more openly about to tackle the stigma associated with disordered eating in the workplace.

• C19 has resulted in more people feeling isolated and disconnected. Simply taking a moment to check in with our friends, family, and colleagues can go a long way.
• James emphasised the impact our language can have on those suffering from a mental illness. He talked about how frequently used terms such as "man up" can have serious implications on men's mental health.

We also spoke with the charity Prostate Cancer UK, the main beneficiary of the Movember campaign. This incredible charity’s top priority is funding research to stop prostate cancer from killing men.

Our CEO Alex created a video and blog post about why the fundraising for Prostate Cancer UK is so important to him, aiming to help the charity raise the funds they need to find better treatments and tests to spot fast-growing cancers early and save thousands of lives.

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Another highlight of the month had to be watching a few members of the team compete for the best Movember moustache! I don't think anyone will be winning 'mo' of the year, but we gave it our best shot.

Why we moved for Movember

• Unchecked, prostate cancer rates will double over the next 15 years.
  
• Globally, testicular cancer is the most common cancer among men aged 15-39 years of age.
  
• Across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 75% of all suicides.
  
  Movember is uniquely placed to address this crisis on a global scale. They fund groundbreaking projects all over the world, engaging men where they are to understand what works best and accelerate change.

And that's a wrap!

A huge thank you to everyone who has shared words of encouragement, to the people who've joined us, and for all of the generous donations..

If you’d like to make a small donation here, there's still time. Not only will it make the early mornings and sweaty afternoons worth it, but it will also help to fund groundbreaking projects changing the face of men’s health

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