Movember 2022 Round-up

Awareness Month Round-up: November and December

In November, we saw all 52 AU clubs unite for men’s mental health. The University of Exeter is renowned for its fundraising efforts, evidenced in topping this year’s Movember national leader board yet again. Fundraising totals came out to £102,702.97, with Men’s Football, Men’s Cricket, and the Hockey Club topping the university’s internal fundraising leaderboard.

Our highest individual fundraisers saw Nicholas Lau, Rory Mackellar, and Samuel Hall raising thousands of pounds. A notable mention should go to Nick Thorn from the Men’s Hockey Club, who got sent to an undisclosed location last month to complete challenges sent in by his club. He ended up in Krakow, Poland, taking selfies with moustached-up strangers, eating Polish Flaczki, handing out roses to strangers, and clapping when the plane landed (to name a few). Another special mention goes to the Sailing club’s Julia Staite who ran a 60km Ultra Marathon and Ruaridh Angus who completed 24 miles of running in 24 hours! The final shout-out is to a group of six ladies from Women’s Football called ‘Scrambled Legs on Tour’ who ran a huge 1000km collectively. 

The fundraising didn't stop with our students, staff members and customers also got stuck in this year too! Our Athletic Union President, James Coffin, came 5th on the individual leader board, with all his funds raised in a single day after an outstanding completion of the Everesting challenge. This involved cycling up forum hill 354 times! Also to mention our St Lukes Sports Centre team and customers who raised £1000 for Movember. The team's goal was to actively cycle 600km across the day from 6:30am to 22:00pm on a spin bike without stopping at all. Tom, one of the Duty managers was the main culprit and anyone who wished to jump on the bike allowed Tom to have a break! Tom cycled a total of 345km whilst the rest of the distance was made up of students, staff and the community, a great event which saw many get involved to raise funds for this excellent charity.

The scale of Movember fundraising seems to be significantly greater than any other fundraising initiative at the University, which might raise the question of why and how it’s become the busiest time of year for our AU clubs and their Welfare Officers. Every year, Exeter’s Mo Bros and Mo Sisters come together to join a global community of those making a difference in men’s mental health, including but not limited to suicide prevention and awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. Everyone faces challenges in life and the way each person responds will be unique to what experiences have shaped them. So, when the time comes for a man to get support, Movember’s work becomes essential to make the step of getting help natural and normalised. 

The categories for fundraising are organised into (1) growing a moustache, (2) moving for Movember, (3) hosting a Mo-ment, and (4) Mo-ing your own way. Alongside ‘Move for Movemeber’, the cycling and rowing distance challenge, and some interesting hair changes (like Korfball’s Treasurer opting for red and blonde dye), here’s what was completed out of the 52 clubs this month: 

- American Football: Latin Dancing Taster Session with EUBLS and EUCC, and entered a team into Mo-lympics. 

- Archery: Taster/Fun Shoot, Sponge Throwing, and a walk to Exmouth. 

- Athletics: Organised the Mo-lympics, a run to Exmouth, and a social run. 

- Badminton: Entered a team into Mo-lympics, a walk to Exmouth, and their Vice President shaved his head once he’d raised £700. 

- Men’s Basketball: Mo-varsity. 

- Boxing: Raffle, Quiz, and for every ticket sold for Exebox, £1 was donated. 

- Canoe: Race on the Quay, and a Bake Sale. 

- Cheer and Gym: Bring-A-Boy Taster Session, Mo-varsity, and a cheer-style competition between members. 

- Climbing: Socials (i.e., Pub Quiz), Sport Swap, Climbing Challenges (i.e., ‘Climb Mount Everest’), Bake Sale, and a Naked Calendar. 

- Men’s Cricket: Quiz Night. 

- Women’s Cricket: Night Walk to Exmouth, a Strava Challenge, and the Big Dip. 

- Cycling: Cycling from Streatham to Penryn Campus and Back 

- Fencing: Water Ballooning Committee, Social, Karaoke, and Group Swim. 

- Men’s Football: 5-a-side Tournament, Stash Sale, Tournament with EULFC, Social Run with EUAC, entered a Mo-lympics team, World Cup Match Viewing, and Netball with EUNC. 

- Women’s Football: Tournament with EUAFC, a Half Marathon to Exmouth, and a mixed social with men’s futsal. 

- Golf: A 570-mile cycle, Club and Vice-Captain ‘72 holes in a day’, and a Bake Sale. 

- Men’s Hockey: Varsity. 

- Women’s Hockey: Boozy Raffle, Varsity and Bake Sale at the Nandos, Isca Club Quiz, Raffle, and a Fun Run. 

- Jiu Jitsu: Bake Sale. 

- Karate: Social, and a Bake Sale. 

- Korfball: Social, and sponge a Club Coach or wax their legs. 

- Netball: Raffle, and a Mixed Netball and Cricket Tournament. 

- Power Lifting: Bowling Social. 

- Riding: A walk to Exmouth, Raffle, and Pub Quiz. 

- Rowing: A 6K run along the towpath to Dawlish. 

- Men’s Rugby Union: ‘Sponge’ an EURFC Player, and a Movember Match. 

- Sailing: Pub Night, ‘Round the Island Race’ Challenge, Sunrise Swim, and a Park Run. 

- Snowsports: Mo-nopoly Snowcial. 

- Squash: Raffle, and a Squash Tournament. 

- Surf: Pub Night and Raffle, Social, and Swim Challenge. 

- Swimming: Dawlish to Exeter Quay Half Marathon, Family Bowling Social, Swimathon, Bake Sale, and a Social. 

- Table Tennis: Alumni Tournament, and a Social. 

- Tennis: Cardio Tennis Session. 

- Touch Rugby: Pub Quiz, Half Marathon, and a Plymouth-to-Exeter Walk. 

- Trampolining: 12-hour Bounceathon, Bring-A-Friend Session, Bucket Hat Sales, and the Big Dip. 

- Triathlon: Entered a team into Mo-lympics, and a 1440km collective movement challenge in 24-hours (for the 1440 lives of men lost through suicide in that time), which included a 100km group ride, a park run, and half-marathons. 

- Volleyball: Volleyball and Basketball Tournament. 

- Water Polo: Pyjama Water Polo Game. 

- Wind riders: Raffle, and a Pizza and Movie Night. 

As seen in the wide variety of fundraising events, each one has the potential to spark up an important conversation about a negatively stigmatised topic. Growing a moustache or ‘braving the shave’, for example, are visual ways to advertise your fundraising campaign 24/7. It’s a bold decision to change your appearance and it gets people talking in a positive light. When this is multiplied, not only amongst the members of our 52 AU clubs, but also globally, it creates an enormous safe place and an accepting community to support men seeking help when, or if, it’s needed. With a bit of time, and with charities like Movember, each year we get closer to our goal of normalised, positive conversations surrounding men’s mental health. 

After the busy month of November, the AU Welfare Team brought the clubs together with a Christmas pub quiz at Isca Eats on campus. This was to not only celebrate every club’s effort after another successful (and very busy) Movember month but also to raise money for St Petrocks charity, who support the homeless (or those vulnerably housed) local to the Exeter area. The evening was a huge success, and we are very grateful to everyone who came along!

Date: 5 December 2022