My teenage son is looking forward to visiting a nearby pub who are offering a free pint for everyone involved in growing a moustache for November month – I’m not really sure he’ll get away with it though – I’ve taken a photograph so that you can see the problem he might have – it’s a little bit bum fluffy (“no offence” – as my daughter would say to cover anything bloody rude that comes out of her mouth)…..we may need to add a bit of dye to it or mascara before he turns up so that they don’t have to use a magnifying glass or worse still turn him away…:-

Whereas on the other hand, here is my brother’s splendid effort thus far. Now he has two more weeks to start developing the handlebars:-

Gosh. Don’t their nostrils look huge taken out of context….So. Let me see your efforts? Otherwise the donation I’m offering is going to one of my family members to add to the charity. Photos please (nostrils included – it’s funnier).

For this month – formerly known as November, men (and women??) will start to sprout and sport splendid moustaches. This is all for a very good cause – check it all out here:- http://uk.movember.com/about. It is to raise much needed funds and awareness for men’s health – especially prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

I have been thinking about my father hugely of late and no more so than today – the first day of Movember. He died almost exactly a year ago now from bowel cancer and we have all recently agreed that not having him around seems to be getting harder, not easier and we are all missing him hugely. He had one of the most splendid moustaches so this month will be hard. We all keep seeing similarities in other people …. SO why not turn a sad situation into something more positive.

Could you please send in photos of your moustaches from around the world and at the end of the month we will pick a winner. I promise to give generously to the charity for the best moustache – I want your stories of where your hair growth takes you, who you meet and general updates over the month too.

Let the battle begin. Ready, steady, GROW….

Here, in honour of my father and just to start things off is his effort. Beat that:-

I walked with my friend who had a mastectomy towards the end of last year and as I write, she is under the knife again at the Royal Marsden to do some more reconstruction. She is amazing. No fuss. I was concerned about her walking such a distance yesterday given she was going to have to have a general anaesthetic today but she said that it would be a good excuse to have a little rest.

Here are a few pictures from our day. We’ve raised over £1K already (well, mostly she has) but if anybody wants to sponsor us please let me know and I’ll send you the link:-

Nesting herons on the route:-

Some lovely dad:-

I read in the Maggie’s 2008/9 Annual Review a quote from an older man with secondary lung cancer:-

“Cancer focuses you remarkably. You learn what’s valuable in life. It makes you realise that there’s no material stuff that’s valuable. Everything from daffodils in Spring to grandchildren: that is what’s important. The latest car and television don’t matter”

It highlighted to me how everybody deals with things in different ways, because when I went to see my father in hospital last week he said “next time you come can you bring me a glossy car magazine, I’ve decided to buy an Aston Martin” (note my mother not happy with idea as he would probably have to sell the house to finance it and no mention so far of the grandchildren!).

Maggie Keswick Jencks (who was also brought up in Hong Kong) founded the charity with her husband after being diagnosed with breast cancer when she was forty-seven. It was through her experience of living with cancer that she began to recognise that taking an active role in her own treatment, moving from passive victim to active participant was the single most important step in dealing with her illness. She held a profound belief that architecture and the environment could deeply affect how you feel. She also became aware that having been diagnosed, there was no one place or person to turn to to get the answers she felt she needed.

Yesterday I went to see Maggie’s London Centre which was designed by Sir Richard Rogers and is situated in the grounds of The Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith. The building is truly amazing – a calm and tranquil space with lush green foliage both inside and out – a real haven. It recently won the RIBA London building of the year award and is on the shortlist for the prestigious Stirling Prize which will be announced next month.

The kitchen is the heart of the centre, giving it a very homely feel with lots of people sitting around a large table drinking tea and eating cakes and chatting and laughing:-

Once there the support you can receive ranges from one-to-one psychological support, weekly support groups, nutrition courses, benefits and welfare support, social and online support and relaxation and stress management.

All Maggie’s Centres in the UK are built adjacent to major cancer treatment hospitals but operate independently of the NHS. Their vision is to open centres next to every NHS Cancer hospital around the country: 5 are in progress in Oxford (this one is being built like a treehouse with wood made by local boatbuilders), Newcastle, South West Wales, Cheltenham and Nottingham. Internationally plans are in place for further centres in Hong Kong, Barcelona and Denmark.

My friend will show her 2010 Spring/Summer Collection and is aiming to raise in excess of £100,000!!

What a difference that will make.