The Movember Foundation  - men's health partner



Movember (the month formally known as November) is a charity event held during November each year. At the start of Movember guys register with a clean shaven face. The Movember participants known as Mo Bros then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache and along the way raise as much money and awareness about male health issues as possible - namely depression and prostate cancer.

beyondblue works with The Movember Foundation to:

• generate awareness of depression, anxiety and related disorders
• reduce the associated stigma
• encourage men to talk about these conditions
• encourage men to seek help for themselves or their mates for depression and related disorders during Movember.

Movember has committed $9,134,000 each to beyondblue and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia from funds raised in 2009.

The funds raised by Movember participants will be dedicated to improving men's health in rural, remote, regional and metro areas across Australia, by supporting beyondblue men's health projects.

For more information about the fundraising outcomes from the 2007 Movember campaign, download the beyondblue Update for Mo Bros and Mo Sistas.

For more information and to register for Movember go to www.movember.com.

How Movember funds are being used by beyondblue

The 2009 funds donated by Movember to beyondblue are being used for: 

• Funding the beyondblue info line. The info line is a national telephone service providing depression/anxiety information and referral services to the general public - it was established initially to support men in rural areas and has now expanded to support people across Australia. The beyondblue info line receives more calls from men than any other helpline (except Mensline). 
• Implementing the Build Your Game program in partnership with the Australian Drug Foundation. This program is raising awareness of depression and anxiety among men in rural sporting clubs.
• Enhancing the mental health and well-being of young Indigenous men in regional and remote communities through the Save a Mate Our Way program, in partnership with the Australian Red Cross. 
• Funding new research into the link between depression and men's cancers (testicular and prostate cancer), and the impact of family breakdown on men's mental health and well-being. 
• Developing a range of resources for men, focusing on depression, anxiety and staying well. This includes, for example, printing copies of Dr John Ashfield's book 'Taking Care of Yourself and Your Family' and 100,000 copies of the 'Men and Separation' book, developed by beyondblue, Crisis Support Services and Relationships Australia (Victoria). Both resources provide practical information and advice to men and are available free from beyondblue. 
• Supporting Men's Sheds to promote awareness of depression and anxiety and encouraging men to look after each other and seek help. Information and resources are distributed to Men's Sheds. We train Shed leaders to recognise the signs and symptoms of depression and help men about whom they may be concerned. 
• Increasing awareness of the risk of depression and anxiety in men with prostate cancer and their partners. beyondblue is developing and distributing resources on how men can maintain their well-being during the cancer journey; training prostate cancer support group convenors to recognise the signs and symptoms of depression and encourage men to seek help; and supporting community forums and conferences that promote awareness of the links between prostate cancer and depression. 
• Supporting the national Don't beat about the bush! campaign. This campaign aims to raise awareness of depression/anxiety and related disorders in rural communities and provides information on where to get help. The campaign involves a range of initiatives, including making beyondblue information materials available on the Centrelink drought assistance buses, distributing information and education resources in rural areas and links with the Mental Health Drought Initiative, the provision of crisis counselling and outreach services through Divisions of General Practice.

The funds raised by Movember in 2010 will help beyondblue to continue its important work in raising awareness of depression in men, and will enable beyondblue to continue funding research to improve our understanding of depression/anxiety and related disorders, and develop effective early intervention and prevention strategies.

For more information and to register for Movember go to www.movember.com.