Movember 2023 - The Finale!

Movember15 at GGS is done and dusted. Once again Gravesend Grammar School teachers, students and families have embraced the Movember spirit, put their collective hands in their pockets and raised a lot of ‘dough for the mo’. Thank you. 2023 has been another huge Movember for Gravesend Grammar School. Teacher participation was at an all-time high, the quality of the moustaches on display reached a new peak and the discerning criticism that was received during the voting process for the ‘Moustache of the Year’ competition reached new heights also.

Mr Robinson evolved the Movember hat selling and this year students could purchase very attractive GGS Movember Bucket Hats (a few are still available from the PE Office). I receive an alert on my phone whenever someone donates to the TeamGGS page on the Movember app and website and it was incredibly humbling to hear the steady ping of alerts throughout the last few days of Movember as students and families donated their efforts from the ‘Mo-Movement’ challenge or just decided that they wanted to make an extra contribution to the cause. Every donation, no matter the amount, makes a huge difference to projects, activities and research that the Movember charity funds throughout each year.

Our final fundraising total for 2023 is £3,416, the most we have ever raised over the 15 years we have participated in Movember! This places TeamGGS as the 18th ranked school nationally in the Movember UK Schools Challenge. A fantastic result to make the top 20 for the fourth year running in a competition involving more than 600 school teams from across the country. This money will be used by the Movember charity to fund projects and research around men's health issues, including research and awareness programmes focusing on issues such as testicular cancer, prostate cancer and mental health issues.

The Movember charity was born in Melbourne, Australia in 2003. A group of friends asked two vital questions: Where had all the moustaches gone and how could they use the mo to raise money for charity. That first year involved thirty 'mobros' and was so popular that in 2004 the friends formed a registered company, linked themselves to a men's health charity and began spreading the word of the mo! 2006 saw the charity spread to New Zealand and by 2007 there were moustaches sprouting all over the world. Since those early days more than six million mo-bros and mo-sistas have raised well over £500,000,000 for men's health research and associated charities. 1250 vital mens’ health projects have been funded by the Movember organisation since those heady days of 2003. Gravesend Grammar School signed up with the Movember charity in 2009. Since then we have organised staff moustache competitions each year, held assemblies during Movember that discuss the charity and men's health issues, invited in guest speakers from the Movember organisation, taught Movember themed lessons in PSHE and held non-uniform days to raise money for the charity. Since that first Movember at Gravesend Grammar School thirteen years ago, staff and students have raised over £30,000.

The ‘Moustache of the Year’ competition was again a closely contested race. Voting was neck and neck, or lip and lip, and there was not much to separate the top three moustaches. There can however be only one winner for 2023: Mr Jordan Berry. The ‘Student Movember’ trophy is awarded for a combination of moustache growing prowess and/or fundraising efforts and this year we have awarded the trophy to an entire class of students. The 2023 ‘Student Movember’ winner is 11F, in recognition of their generosity during our Movember NonUniform Day. Sadly, Movember 2023 is now over; top lips have been re-exposed to the elements, razors returned to wash-basins and the world seems a poorer yet smoother place for it. Movember15 was the greatest Movember so far at GGS – here’s looking forwards to the next 15! Thank you!

JCM