WE DID IT! 2018 TOTAL (including GiftAid): £7,038.09

- **TOTAL OVER 7 YEARS: £24,685.90** - see the updates below to see some of the breathtaking messages that I, Navi and our volunteers have received - our metric for this year's primary goal of raising awareness.

MOVEMBER 7: BEYOND THE TASH AND ONTO THE TALES

It’s time to elevate “awareness” to a higher level, to advance the discussion and understanding of mental health, and bring the often forgotten and misconception-rife aspects of mental health to the forefront. This year’s goal isn’t just to beat last year’s financial target, but to push the boundaries of everyday conversation on mental health, at least amongst the small circle of you who will see these posts. You’ll see more from people I know and respect about mental health and their own experiences, as well as what you’ve come to expect from me. This is how this year’s campaign has, like my ‘tash every year, not just grown, but EVOLVED.

Welcome to Tash & Tales.

Since 2012, we’ve raised over £17,647.81 for the immeasurably  underappreciated, underfunded and misunderstood cause of mental health; an astonishing amount. If you had told me this was possible  when I first signed up to do Movember six years ago, I would have not believed you, and would have probably shaved off my eyebrows (as well as my beard) out of shock.

In those years, public discourse on mental health has expanded. 1 in 4 of us (statistically – at least) will have had some kind of experience with our own mental health. Many of us have lost heroes. Many of us have lost people close to us, or felt the weight of mental health’s many forms as we support others, or ourselves. Governments have pledged more money to mental health, even if it seems to disappear into a black hole. Awareness and cash flow has increased.

But by no means is the problem “fixed”. Suicide is still the leading cause of death for young men than anything else and 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma or discrimination. And in almost every country, there is still right to access or waiting time standards for mental health issues. And even though suicide was decriminalised in 1961, many of us still say that people “commit”  suicide, as if it is still a crime – or a sin.

In the past, the way I’ve raised money and awareness by re-enacting cultural moments with some kind of hairy-twist. This year, I want to expand the arsenal – it’s time to bring more attention the everyday issues around mental health. We hear a lot more about mental health than we used to – but how much more do we understand it?

Time to tread this new path together. If you’d like to be featured, please contact me. And if not – I hope the next month doesn’t just make you laugh, but that it expands all of our horizons, and helps push on the deserving cause of mental health on and on.

***Many of you have been extremely generous to have donated multiple times, some of you every year. Please do not feel obliged to donate – EVERY amount is appreciated, but I am aware that I embark on this journey every Movember and I do not expect anybody to feel pressured to contribute each year***

SHARE & DONATE: www.justgiving.com/movemberamir2018

• 2017: £6,562.37 for Mind, The Mental Health
  Charity
  
• 2016: £4,839.78 for Mind; ranked in the top 1% of fundraisers on JustGiving & nominated for a JustGiving Award
  
• 2015: £3,160.78 for Mind
  
• 2014: £1,763.20 for Mind; ranked in the top 5% of fundraisers on  JustGiving
  
• 2013: £970.68 for Macmillan Cancer Support
  
• 2012: £351 for the Movember Foundation

ABOUT MIND & THE BRILLIANT WORK THEY DO: www.mind.org.uk/about-us

#Movember #MovemberAmir #MentalHealthAwareness #MindCharity #JustGiving