Hey!  Thanks for stopping by!

For today's Thousand-Word picture (no need for a thousand swear words... yet...):

http://minacandy.wordpress.com/

Last year i took part in 'Movember' which raises money for men's health charities.  As i couldn't be sure exactly where the money went, this year i've elected to hijack the face-art idea to raise and donate the money directly to the charity Rethink Mental Illness - see their web-site for more information on the work they do:

www.rethink.org

Don't get me wrong: i still think Movember is fabulous and i highly recommend you visit their page here: http://uk.movember.com/

As i'm sure most of you know, being a bit wrong in the head myself, the subject of mental health and awareness-raising is an important issue to me.

Men's mental health is often even more misunderstood and stigmatised than that of women.  We all know men are expected to 'man up' rather than talk about what's troubling them.  They're the strong ones, right?  And being strong means pretending everything's fine, RIGHT?

However, to give you just one example: in the UK the rate of suicide among men was 3.5 times greater than that of women during 2012 - 4,590 were recorded in that year (Office for National Statistics).

Like last year, i'll put up ridiculous photos of me saving the world one 'tache at a time, as well as getting on my soapbox periodically to mouth of and pelt you all with facts and figures here:

http://minacandy.wordpress.com/

Also, like last year, i'll be making a right spectacle of myself and i am absolutely certain that the good citizens round here will make their opinions on my face-art skills well-known.  C'mon - I live in Croydon - the least you can do is cough up a few quid, eh?

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.