Leica Geosystems employees brave facial hair for a worthy cause

Leica Geosystems employees have supported Movember for a number of years now, in Switzerland, Australia and the UK. This year, we saw the creation of the "Leica Mochine Control" team, consisting of employees from our Heerbrugg, Switzerland and Odense, Denmark offices.

Lennon Bedford (Product Specialist, GNSS Sensors), was appointed Team Leader and, along with ten other eager Machine Control colleagues, has managed to raise CHF 1,150 so far for this worthy cause./p>

For those who haven't experienced this cultural delight, Movember is an annual charity event which raises money and awareness for men's health issues by reclaiming the month formally known as "November". Essentially, brave men shave their faces on 31 October and attempt to grow a convincing moustache over the next 30 days, much to the delight of their friends and family. There are various styles they can adopt - for example, the handlebars, the trucker, the rock star, and who could forget the Salvador Dali?

During Movember, both men and women can get involved by either donating money or starting conversations and spreading awareness about men's health. As the Movember site says, "it's about having fun and doing good". Since its humble beginnings in Australia, Movember has become a global movement which has raised over EUR 436 million, and funded 832 projects in 21 countries around the world - these projects typically focus on three core health concerns: prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues.

Some of the statistics might surprise you:

Switzerland:

• Approx. 30% of deaths in Swiss men are due to cancer
• Over one-third of people in Switzerland are overweight or obese

United Kingdom:

• Men have a 14% higher risk of developing cancer than women, and a 37% higher risk of dying of it
• More than two-thirds of men in the United Kingdom are overweight or obese
• One in four people will experience a mental health problem each year

United States:

• One in two men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
• Approx. 15 million adults (6.7% of the population) will be diagnosed with depression each year
• More than one third of adults in the U.S. are obese

Australia:

• One in eight Australian men experience depression at any given time
• One in two Australian men will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85
• Average life expectancy of Australian men is almost five years less than women

While these are very serious topics, the Movember Foundation wants to engage the general community in their cause via an inventive and fun campaign. So to this end, we will leave you with a few images of our Leica Mochine Control team and their attempts to grow facial hair...

If you can't spare money for a donation, please help spread the word about men's health issues amongst your community, friends and family. However, if you are still interested in making a donation, your money would be very much appreciated, and will be counted in the 2014 total if received by December 10, 2014. If received after this date, it will of course still benefit this very worthy cause. You can donate via the following link:

Leica Mochine Control Movember donations

Yasmin Sethi
Head of People Development
Hexagon Geosystems