When Carleton alumnus Cody Nicoll was studying for his undergraduate degree in 2012, his hockey team decided to fundraise for Movember—an annual campaign that raises awareness for men’s health issues by encouraging participants to grow a moustache throughout November.
More than growing facial hair, the deeper message of Movember quickly resonated with Nicoll. The campaign sheds light onto topics such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s suicide.
“Through junior hockey and stuff, I saw a lot of guys suffer with mental health issues and a lot of personal issues in that respect, and it kind of hit home with me a little bit more,” Nicoll said.
Years later, he is still passionate about the campaign and is now a member of an Ottawa Movember committee. Nicoll said he typically runs an annual bartending competition to raise awareness for Movember, but this year the competition is cancelled due to COVID-19.
Nicoll’s committee is finding new ways to safely fundraise, such as virtual yoga and wellness Wednesday segments with sports talk radio station TSN 1200, but they are not the only ones adapting.
The entire Movember organization in charge of the annual namesake cause has needed to restrategize this year, since events cannot take place in person due to COVID-19.
Laughter is the best medicine
Karli Kirkpatrick, director of marketing for Movember Canada, said Movember empowers men to take charge of their own health.
“Movember has always been such an example and kind of a bit of a beacon in men being able to start conversations about their health,” Kirkpatrick said. “Something that we’ve really focused on is being able to break down stigmas that prevent them from engaging with their health.”
She added the beauty of the campaign lies in its ability to spark deep conversations in a lighthearted way.
“It’s a really fun, cheeky campaign that people can really get behind and come together as a community in whatever space you’re in,” Kirkpatrick said.
Movember is geared to be lighthearted because many men cope with difficult situations through humour, Kirkpatrick said.
As mental health issues rise amid COVID-19, Kirkpatrick said she thinks Movember can help men’s mental health through the events and resources it offers.
“People need things like this,” she said. “A whole bunch of things are happening this year, and people need a bit of levity.”
Never a better time
Kirkpatrick said the pandemic has negatively affected many men’s mental health through isolation and job loss, among other factors.
“When it comes to COVID-19, there’s a lot of things that really happened to really exacerbate the kind of dire mental health crisis that we’re facing, especially when it comes to men,” she said.
A research study by Movember, which surveyed just shy of 1,500 Canadians and 800 men, found eight out of 10 Canadian men find it helpful when others ask about their troubles. However, 40 per cent of participants said no one has checked in with them during the pandemic.
“It’s even more important to really make those safe spaces available to people and drive that awareness and get those conversations started,” Kirkpatrick said.
Men & Healing, a Canadian-led agency with a male-centred approach to psychology and therapy, has noticed a change in trends since the pandemic hit, according to Rick Goodwin, a founder and clinical manager at the agency.
Though many clients have not expressly said they are seeking help because of COVID-19, the agency is witnessing a heightened interest in their services—an estimated 25 per cent increase.
“Whether a fellow is coming to us considering trauma, unresolved trauma issues, emotional regulation issues or sexual integrity issues, all of the latent anxiety of COVID-19 is just spewing that,” Goodwin said.
According to Goodwin, biases in society and government policy are possible explanations as to why men’s health issues are not increasingly talked about.
Goodwin added Movember and similar initiatives play a critical role in getting mental health issues out of the shadows for men, by shedding light on particular risks including trauma, proneness to violence, depression, as well as emotional and sexual issues including infidelity, emotional sensitivity, expression issues and personal conflict resolution.
Going virtual
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Movember has had to make all its events online this year.
Movember Canada has a peer-to-peer outlook, which is all about allowing people to connect with others—whether it be friends or family—to fundraise and raise awareness for men’s health issues, Kirkpatrick said.
This year’s fundraising events will look different because of the pandemic—something that threatened the organization’s community approach, Kirkpatrick said.
Because of this, Movember Canada’s fundraising team has created a virtual toolkit aimed at helping participants transition their alternative fundraising initiatives.
“Trying to give [participants] all of the ideas and all of the tools to then do this themselves virtually, with our support, was really important,” she said.
The virtual toolkit includes resources such as information about Movember, how to host virtual events, how to solicit donations virtually, Zoom backgrounds and conversation starters, Kirkpatrick explained.
As Movember Canada guides its fundraisers to move their initiatives online, the organization is doing the same. This year, it launched Mo Your Own Way, a guide for participants to choose fun challenges and find success in fundraising.
The organization’s guide offers different ways participants can make their challenges “epic”—whether it is doing a 30-day fitness challenge, pledging to do a polar dip, kicking a habit, utilizing a talent or creating a fun contest.
Movember Canada will also be hosting Move Mondays with virtual workouts, another event people can take part in to help with fundraising. The event will be hosted by Adrian Davis, a former CFL player and owner of Station 90, a gym in Longueuil, Que.
Other events include a Zoom speaker series and a closing event on Nov. 30, which will be powered by Elite Digital, a digital agency based out of Toronto.
Carleton community
In addition to local initiatives, Carleton community members are keeping the fundraising spirit alive.
The Omicron-Pi chapter of Kappa Sigma at Carleton, Nicoll’s former fraternity, has been regularly participating and fundraising for Movember since 2017. Cole Hickman, former vice-president of philanthropy for the fraternity, said fundraising efforts have an emphasis on the Carleton community.
“Our goal is to not only raise money, but to raise awareness around the Carleton campus … just because university is a really stressful time,” Hickman said.
At the time of publication, the fraternity has only raised $310 towards their cause, with a goal of $7,500. Last year, the fraternity raised $8,764.
Hickman said it is increasingly difficult to fundraise now than it was before COVID-19.
“With quarantine [and] not being on campus, it’s a lot harder to reach out to people because you don’t really feel like there’s a right time to do it,” he said.
Kirkpatrick said although Movember members may face challenges this year in light of COVID-19, she hopes members can still salvage a sense of community.
“[By leveraging] all the different digital tools that are available to us, [we’ll] be able to still bring that community feel and that kind of ‘We’re all in this together’ sense of things, when we can’t really physically be together,” Kirkpatrick said.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
