This November, as most of the world tried to grow their bank balances ahead of Christmas, our team of Paul (pictured above) Theo and Max decided to ‘grow a mo’ in recognition of Movember.
The charity works year-round to help raise essential funds and awareness of men’s health, including mental health, prostate and testicular cancer. One of their biggest months, however, is November when men across the country grow (or try to!) a moustache to show their support for the charity and their fellow male friends, family and colleagues. Our team raised an amazing £485 for the charity and raised a few eyebrows with their questionable tashes!
You can still donate via our team page
Scroll below to check out our celebrations for International Men’s Day!
International Men’s Day
This International Men’s Day, we celebrated the positive value and influence that men have on their families, friends, colleagues and society. At Arc, we are proud of our wonderful colleagues, Richard, Andrew, Theo and Rob, who used to day to shed light on men’s mental health in one of our much-loved Diversity Brekkies; an initiative created by Senior People Operations Manager, Sarah King, to educate and inspire our colleagues on subjects close to our heart.
Despite the conversation surrounding mental health being much more open than it was a few decades ago, suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50. This is why we encourage open conversations about mental health here at Arc and 70% of our full-time team are Mental Health First Aiders, providing support for their colleagues and looking out for key signs of deteriorating mental health in our Team Members.
Why Men Don’t Talk
It’s a well-known phenomenon that men don’t speak as much as their female counterparts, it’s often viewed with a comedic notion and accepted as the norm.
It’s portrayed on our screens, women with tight-knit friendships, very very open conversations, friends through the good the bad and the ugly. Love, marriage, divorce, hate, death, grief, birth, happiness. Think Sex and The City, Orange is the New Black, Desperate Housewives and Girls Trip.
Hollywood’s portrayal of male friendships are few and far between, those that do are often overloaded with comedy or crime, lacking real emotional depth. According to a 2018 survey from Movember, this reflects the reality of male friendships. Almost half of men said that they do not talk openly with their friends about their problems.
Men are not comfortable with the idea of being vulnerable, so much so, two in three would rather be known as ‘short fused’. It is believed that this stems from a mixture of biology and social constructs. From a young age, they’re often taught to hide their emotions for fear of bullying, however, this sets a dangerous precedent for later life.
In recent years, society has done much to tear down these potentially toxic ideals of men, opening up the space to accept their emotions and vulnerability as inherently human and not exclusively feminine. However, it’s easier said than done to erase a millennia of habit.
The post Movember Round-Up appeared first on Arc.