Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Itchy for a manly cause - Movember has strong support from Speedy Signs East Tamaki

MO BROS: These blokes are doing their bit to raise money for Movember. From left, Oli Zurrer, Terry Murphy, John Packham, Brent Neighbour and Wayne Strong. Times photo Wayne Martin.





 Brent Neighbour and his staff at Speedy Signs East Tamaki gathered strong support from some mates in the local community for this years Movember fund raiser for men's health!


BRISTLY upper lips across the country have been trimmed into shape to draw attention to men’s health issues.
Thousands of blokes are braving the itchiness and growing moustaches for Movember, the annual appeal putting the spotlight on prostate cancer and depression.
Brent Neighbour, of Speedy Signs East Tamaki, started sprouting facial hair with a group of friends and work colleagues at the beginning of the month.
“I’ve done it [Movember] before and thought it would be a good idea,” says Brent. “We’ll at least get a few hundred dollars.”
Funds raised by the appeal go to the Mental Health Foundation, Cancer Society, and health programmes run through Movember.
A relative of Brent’s was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, which has served as an extra incentive for him to sign up his mates and get growing.
“It’s a really good cause,” he told the Times.
“It’s good to see something for men’s health. My father-in-law went through it last year – prostate cancer and treatment. I’m planning on getting some money out of him.”
John Packham, who’s part of Brent’s team of “mo bros”, has a personal reason for taking part.
“I had an operation on prostate cancer a year ago,” says John, who was diagnosed at 55.
“That’s why I’m here, otherwise I wouldn’t be. It’s like a lot of cancers – if you detect it early, you can survive it.”
Teammate Wayne Strong says that until men reach their 40s and 50s, they don’t bother about their health, so he reckons Movember is a good reminder for them to take care.
“It’s the old story, ‘I’m not dead, so I must be okay’,” says Wayne. “It’s hard to get anyone in their 20s interested in it [prostate checks]. One thing we all do is laugh about it, because that’s all you can do.”
Oli Zurrer, who works with Brent at Speedy Signs on Springs Road, says raising money and awareness for men’s health is “the right thing to do”.
“It’s showing our support,” he says. “When you get a bit older you should really do something about the check-ups, and something to raise money.”
The team-of-seven, which includes “mo sista” Donna Neighbour, is asking for the community’s support to help them collect as much as possible for the cause.
“I’ll tell all the women at work that if they can’t grow a mo, they have to pay,” jokes Wayne.
“We’ll have a group photo at the end,” adds Brent. “It can’t come fast enough, I think.”
To contribute to the group’s fundraising effort, log onto nz.movember.com and search for Speedy Signs East Tamaki.


Article Source: Howick and Pakuranga Times

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