Will Manuary Catch On?

Online, January 18, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The new charity fundraising organisation, Manuary, is growing in popularity as another way for men and women to raise money for cancer charities by growing and maintaining a beard for the month of January.

Manuary raise money for research into Head and Neck Cancer, the sixth most common type of cancer globally. Last year the organisation were able to raise $11,000 for charity, but will they be able to raise any money from UK participants, willing to prolong the growth of their beards?

In comparison to Movember and Decembeard, Manuary is still growing. Anyone who has participated in Movember or visited the website will know the tale of the original thirty men who raised money in the beginning, demonstrating the speed with which small events can become globally popular.

However, it can be argued Manuary is one step too far for beard growing for charity. After two months of facial hair growing events many will want to shave their beards and wait until next year to grow them again. Avid fundraiser and fake beard enthusiast James Mason commented, "Until January I'd never heard of Manuary. The idea seems to be exactly the same as Decembeard, but participating means three months of no shaving, which might put people off, unless Manuary is the only beard growing charity event they do. During Decembeard there were men and women raising money for charity by wearing fake beards or growing their own if they could. On the Manuary website there are also plenty of pictures of people with their own beard hats on, which is maybe one way people could participate if they didn't want to go another month without shaving."

Women are able to participate in Manuary as well as men. Pictures on the Manuary website show women with beards drawn on in computer programs, and even women wearing products like the Beard Beanie, the original fitted beard hat to get themselves involved with the fundraising.

With Movember being the biggest beard growing for charity themed month, followed closely by Decembeard, Manuary has a long way to go before it can compete. Movember took years to reach the UK and become a popular charity event, and Manuary will possibly follow as more people notice and participate in it each, even if with fake beards.

Beard Beanie is the online retailer of the original fitted beard hat. They have a wide range of designs and styles to suit anyone's tastes, whether they need theirs for Manuary fundraising, or keeping their faces warm and protected when they hit the slopes this ski season.