With special guest:
- Sam Gledhill
Movember is a classic example of someone having a great idea.
In 2003 a few blokes came up with the idea of combining fundraising with a fashion statement for men and 13 years later that idea has led to over $700m being raised to benefit men’s health in some areas that are not fashionable.
Our guest today is Sam Gledhill who is the Men’s Health Program Manager at Movember. We had a fantastic interview with Sam last year in Movember and this year there is a lot to talk about as the movement keeps expanding.
We talk to Sam about some of the new projects taken on by Movember in 2016. Listeners may have seen the ABC Television show called Man Up starring Gus Worland, the well-known radio presenter. This show about male suicide was a personal project for Gus who lost one of his best friends to suicide. Sam and the Movember team are rightly proud about this show which was financed in association with the University of Melbourne.
Movember has also initiated this year the Innovator’s Challenge which is looking for good ideas to reduce male isolation. MAYEIGHT! is part of Movember’s role being extended year round, rather than being restricted to the eleventh month of the year. MAYEIGHT! as the name suggests is for men to catch up with a mate on 8 May. Restaurant chain Grill’d is supporting this by offering a two for one deal on the day.
In keeping with the 2016 theme for Movember there is a video now available called “Suicide Notes Talk Too Late” with the message to talk when things get tough rather that as happens all too frequently, others only hear about it in a suicide note. Yet another worthwhile initiative is the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Register Australia/New Zealand (PCOR-ANZ) which is the world’s largest national prostate cancer register. By recording the outcomes of treatment, patients and doctors will be better advised on which route to follow with treatment.
Movember has always had a big fun side. The good part is that after the fun when the money is raised the contributors can go to the website and see exactly what has been done with it in the scorecard published by Movember.
Movember is fun and doing an enormously important job at the same time. To see this in action don’t miss Sam Gledhill in today’s show.
Sam Gledhill
Sam Gledhill (Sammy) is the Men’s Health Program Manager for Movember.
He is a Mornington Peninsula lad who manages to combine his love of numbers (statistics are a particular favourite) with clinical research and health management. No mean feat. Sam joined the Movember Foundation in 2011 because he needed a job - he stays because every day he has the privilege of seeing how the work the Foundation does is quite literally changing the face of men’s health. In his spare time, Sam assumes the position of AFL armchair expert and calls Big Data a hobby. Seriously.
Sammy’s Mo style: Wishing for a Trucker, likely to achieve an Undercover Brother
Song selection by our guest: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen