Oliver Nolan
Staff writer
And so we’re just past the midway point: those who this time last week had seemingly regressed to their pre-pubescent selves are now sporting fully blown face fuzz. Notice how you don’t quite feel the cold as much? Charity aside, keeping warm is one of the many good reasons to be doing Movember in a country like Ireland.
It’s at this point of course that the real spreading of awareness comes into play. To even the anonymous passer-by on the street, your mo’ sends out the message of men’s health. It’s for this reason then that I feel that the more outlandish and eye-catching, the better. Many might opt for the classic Ned Flanders, but this isn’t always the most affective approach, not least in the Trinity region where a fair proportion of the Hipster community sport those mo’s all year round. That said, I wonder if it’s possible to take things a little too far. Early suggestions from friends who won’t be named urged me to merge the separate entities of facial and chest hair to create a kind of conglomerate Super-Mo. I’m trying to raise funds and awareness, not terrify people said I. While the handlebar will do for this year, in hindsight it’s the more outrageous, semi-repulsive mo’s that truly get people donating, or at least talking.
I experienced this ‘getting people talking’ element first hand this week. In class last Wednesday morning, I was jovially grilled on the Movember experience by my lecturer in front of the entire class. This led to laughs and a bit of fun-making for a minute or so, but he then went on to discuss for a few minutes the importance of men’s health, getting yourself checked and of being aware of your family’s medical history. Given that these few introductory minutes, in this class at least, are generally reserved for cheerful banter, I couldn’t help but feel like this was evidence that Movember is a charity fundraiser that just works, permeating the public conciousness in unexpected ways like the one I have described. It’s great to see, and a thrill to be a part of.
It’s this sense of raising awareness paired with fun that perhaps makes Movember so effective. The fun factor is definitely something that Brian O’ Reilly is very much in tune with, as his Youtube channel ‘Things to do Before you Die’ attests. Brian’s friend Ross Nugent died from a rare form of cancer called Ewings Sarcoma at the age of 18, and I got in touch with Brian this week to get his views on men’s health and how Movember isn’t too distant from his fundraising approach.
- Can you tell us a bit about the Ross Nugent foundation?
The charity was set up in 2010 in the name of Ross Nugent, a loved 18 year old lad from Malahide that died from cancer in May that year. His family set up the charity, with all of the proceeds going towards the oncology ward at Beaumount Hospital. They have done amazing things over the past 2 years.
- What were your initial feelings once you found out about Ross’s diagnosis, and how did this feed into your starting of the youtube channel?
The news was broken to me a few months before I finished my finals at university. At the time when all of my friends were applying for jobs/masters degrees etc I was writing up a bucket list for myself. My plan as soon as I finished uni was to travel around the world and tick everything off my list, uploading each experience to Youtube. I started sending each video to Ross while he was in hospital; I was told each video raised his spirits so that was the best thing I’d ever heard at the time. When he died, I sorted out a big partnership with Youtube and now the revenue from my series goes to the foundation. Ross’s battle gave me such a kick in the arse really; since his death I’ve been just taking the happiness route in life. Travelling around the world, becoming a full time musician rather than getting a normal job, none of that would have happened if it wasn’t for him.
- A lot of Movember’s success comes from the fact that besides the serious message, it’s a lot of fun. Can you see any paralells between the Movember foundation and your fundraising activities?
Definitely. People can be very hesitant about things that are for charity; I’ve never really understood why. If my videos were serious, nobody would watch them. It’s the laughs combined with the good cause that seems to work. In 2010 I did a video called ‘Make A Scene In An Airport’, where I ran into to Dublin airport with a megaphone and pleaded with a passenger not to get on her plane but to stay and marry me instead. I got more donations to the charity that week than any other at the time.
- Of the many, many things you’ve video’d yourself doing as part of the ‘Things to do Before You Die’ series, which one sticks in the memory the most, and why?
I travelled around Australia, New Zealand and America by myself for the series and I’ll never stop thinking about that experience. Travelling solo is the best thing. I never want to stop travelling so my aim for 2013 is to do 200 shows all around the world. So far I have 40 booked with California being the sweetest location!
For more information about the Ross Nugent Foundation visit:
http://www.rossnugentfoundation.ie/
To keep up to date with Brian O’Reilly’s series visit:
If you’d like to donate to Oliver’s Movember fund, go to http://mobro.co/olivernolan
