"There Is Help Out There If Someone Wants It" : Athy Woman Fundraising For Men's Health This November

She's in her fourth year of fundraising for the charity

An Athy woman is raising funds for a men's health charity this month with the help of Portlaoise Prison where she works.

Movember is an annual global campaign taking place in November aiming to raise awareness about men's health issues, specificially prostate cancer, testicular cancer, as well as mental health and suicide prevention.

Pamela Moore is now in her fourth year of fundraising for the charity, and says her interest was initially prompted by the passing of a loved one:

"I lost someone close to me to suicide, so my reasoning for doing it [the fundraising] was the men's mental health side of it, when Movember came around four years ago, I had thought it would be a bit of craic to do it," she told the Kildare Today show.

"The first year we raised just shy of €10,000, and I felt I could better that again and reached out to other prisons and I've been doing the same ever since, hopefully it keeps growing."

As well as fundraising, a number of her male co-workers have made the effort to grow a moustache as part of the campaign, a group now known as The Hairy Jailers.

"I try to encourage them to grow moustaches, and when you see someone with a moustache during November, it's usually got to do with Movember."

She also remarked that she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to people in other prisons about the charity and the importance of men's mental health in Ireland.

A central element to the month of November is about trying to break the stigma surrounding mental health, a situation Pamela believes is ever-improving:

"Every year we've seen that men don't talk, they're not great at talking, but you definitely do see a difference, I see them having conversations that I know they don't usually have.

"I think that's fantastic, knowing that they can talk to someone and that there is help out there if someone wants it," she concluded.

The full interview can be heard below:

HELPLINES

Pieta House: Call 1800 247 247 (free therapy for suicide, self-harm, or bereavement; or text HELP to 51444)

The Samaritans: Call 116 123 (24/7 emotional support)

Text About It: Free anonymous 24/7 text support by texting "Hello" to 50808