IT’S a worldwide campaign which has banished razors and shaving foam to the back of bathroom cupboards for a whole month.

Armed with good humour and a steely sense of competition, men across the region have been growing the best moustaches they can in aid of Movember to raise awareness and funds for prostate and testicular cancer.

In York, male staff at digital agency Plump Digital – James Howard, Chris Lawson and Rob Colley – have been sporting a decorators brush, walrus and handlebar respectively to raise £509 for charity.

“Our moustaches are looking pretty rubbish,” Chris joked, before adding: “It has been good, we have raised money from clients and friends.”

The creative team made a “Mo Randomiser”, which let visitors to their website hit a button to try out how different moustaches look on different members of staff.

Meanwhile, at Aviva, more than 70 York based employees took part in the challenge.

Spokeswoman Sarah Poulter said: “Last year Aviva colleagues raised £15,000 and we look on course to do around the same again.

“One decribed his moustache as a Salvador Dali and one said he was going for a Victorian look.

“There have been some quite strict rules outlined on the staff intranet. They have had a lot of fun with it.”

At York Museums Trust, eight of the team have been growing their moustaches in support of the event. Mike Linstead, E-Communications co-ordinator, said: “We’ve raised almost £700 which has smashed our total of £500 from last year and we’ve still got some donations to come in.”

• The Last Drop Inn in Colliergate is holding a Movember related event tomorrow afternoon, including a raffle.