WITH a joint effort between The Irish Field team and our colleagues in the Irish Farmers Journal, the annual Movember fund raising in aid of men’s health, re-named ‘Fovember’ in honour of our farming friends, has meant that the men in both offices have been sporting moustaches of all shapes and sizes. Our group is currently number one in national rankings, with a tally of over €26,000 raised to date.

The Irish Field’s Leo Powell is the number one Movember fundraiser in the country having raised €17,000 by himself. The lads were rewarded for their growing abilities with a hot towel shave on Tuesday courtesy of Sam’s Barbers to celebrate the final days of the Movember campaign. A cake sale held by the Irish Country Living staff of the Irish Farmers Journal raised €1,150.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among men aged 15-39 with 164 men diagnosed every year in Ireland. One in eight men will develop prostate cancer and it is the sixth most common cause of cancer death among men.

Leo Powell commented: “November 2014 will always be fondly remembered by me. When I started out to do Movember, I had no idea that the response from so many people would be so positive. The appeal ends this weekend. Following an invitation from Peter Roe at Fairyhouse Racecourse the offending moustache will be shaved off in the parade ring after the fourth race on Sunday, at approximately 2.15pm, along with those of Pat O’Keeffe and Peter Young from the Irish Farmers Journal. This is one of the biggest winter race meetings of the year and I am grateful to Peter for this opportunity. This will bring the Movember appeal to an end.”

Anyone wishing to contribute to Leo’s appeal over the weekend can do so at http://mobro.co/leopowell91 or look for the Fovember team account at movember.com.