Holy Mo! Churches raising money for men's health

Women everywhere are cringing as their husbands, boyfriends and male friends attempt to grow facial hair in the name of raising money and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer charities.

'Movember' is an annual men's health campaign that encourages men to refrain from shaving their moustaches for the month of November, and has raised more than £275 million since it first started in 2004, with over a million people taking part last year.

This year Movember is welcoming participants from churches across the UK, with the introduction of the 'Holy Mo Challenge' and a call to take being 'Christ-like' to a whole new level.

The challenge has been set to encourage Christian men to join in with the campaign and raise as much money as possible.

"We're very excited to have the support of faith communities in the UK this year and are fully behind the Holy Mo Challenge," the team at Movember have said.

Churches from all over the UK and Northern Ireland have accepted the challenge. Reverend David Southall and his team, the 'Mighty Movember Chaplains', from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have entered, saying "anything we can do to raise awareness and have conversations...is great".

The Right Reverend James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle and lead Bishop on healthcare for the Church of England, has commended the Movember campaign "for encouraging faith communities to engage with issues of men's health".

"[I would like to] encourage people to consider growing a moustache this Movember, proudly sporting Holy Mos in our communities," he said.

"The Holy Mo Challenge provides even greater opportunity for local churches and faith communities to raise awareness and help change the face of men's health," he added.

And don't worry gents, it's not too late to enter, so put down your razor and start modelling that 'tache.