Bearded men raise thousands for Mug
MEN across the Bailiwick have helped raise thousands of pounds for charity by growing a beard in November.
The campaign by Male Uprising Guernsey encouraged men to grow a beard to increase awareness of male cancers and help those who are affected by prostate, bowel and testicular cancer.
One such fundraiser was 76-year-old Jubilee Centre user Barry Samson, who managed to raise £2,000 by himself.
Day centre manager at Jubilee, Josie Breton, said he had worked hard to raise the money.
‘Everyone has wished him well and he had some donations from here, but primarily
he’s done it all himself,’ she
said.
‘He’s been to pubs in the evening, Beau Sejour, Co-ops and Aladdin’s Cave.
‘He was there from 9 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock at night.
‘He’s loves it, in the three years he’s been doing it he’s raised in the region of £7,000 for the cause.’
The Channel Islands Cancer Report, released in July 2017, highlighted that prostate cancer is the island’s number one cause of cancer death and is the second most common cancer in the island.
Dan Collins, chairman of Male Uprising Guernsey, said it had been a really good year for the campaign.
‘We aimed to get £10,000 and we’ve got well over that which is fantastic.
‘We had another great take up this year, with perhaps more corporate involved.
‘This is the last event of the year but we will hit it hard again next year.’
Fundraising began with a donation from Weighbridge Trust, who pledged £2,500 to the campaign.
Luke Cairns, of Weighbridge Trust, said the campaign had been well supported
in the office.
‘Cancer has affected the lives of a couple of people in the office recently, so it fit with us wanting to do a bit more corporate social responsibility,’ he said.
‘Most of the guys in the office all signed up and with a couple of late entries, it was brilliant.
‘It was a fairly beardy office so we are looking forward to having a bit of a trim in time for Christmas.’
