Ice baths, half marathons, bake sales: Newcastle and Northumbria’s Movember 2025 round up

Throughout November, Newcastle and Northumbria students put away their razors, put on their fundraising hats and took on a range of Movember challenges.

The incredible turnout this year shows that when we come together as a community, talk to one another and support each other, we can change the stigma around men’s mental health.

Movember is a charity that has been supporting men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer in the UK since 2007.

We’re rounding up some of the biggest fundraising efforts from across Newcastle and Northumbria universities, including the grand totals reached by the end of the month.

Newcastle University MechEng FC: £8,668

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The society that raised the most for Movember at Newcastle University this year was MechEng FC, finishing the month on £8,668.

On 16th November, they hosted a car boot and bake sale at Cochrane Park before their charity six-a-side tournament in the evening. The tournament included over 15 teams from across Newcastle University, all competing against each other.

MechEng FC also completed a 24-hour walk as a team, taking turns across the night and completing challenges along the way. Overall, they walked 90.94km, finishing in Bar Blanc for a well-deserved pint.

For their last challenge, they teamed up with NUBS Netball for a 24-hour run starting at 8pm on Thursday 27th November and ending at 8pm on Friday 28th November.

They said: “Everything we did was about starting conversations and making it easier for men to talk, open up and reach out when they need help… As November comes to an end, the moustaches might come off but the conversations can’t.”

Newcastle Medics Rugby: £4,334

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Newcastle Medics Rugby raised the second-highest amount as a society this year, coming in at £4,334.

They took on a huge 48-hour run at the end of the month, starting on Friday 28th November and finishing on Sunday 30th November. The whole team joined in to take shifts through the night, ending the run at Bar Blanc.

Special recognition goes to Felix Jones, a medic who took on the massive individual task of a 250km cycle. He chose this distance because it’s the same as his usual train journey to see his mates, from Topsham to London. Felix decided to do the ride at the pub, supported by friends throughout. He smashed his £500 target and raised £733.

Maxwell Shelton, Medics Rugby president, said: “We wanted to use this month to counter the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, doing our bit to break down the barriers by having those tricky conversations.”

Newcastle University Men’s Hockey: £4,066

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NUMHC have been major players in Movember fundraising this year, reaching a total of £4,066 by the end of the month. They put down their razors and got stuck in with a huge range of challenges.

Their club president, Harry Vincent, raised £1,020 individually with his video series “Ice bath a day with a mate,” which featured important conversations about what Movember means to NUMHC. Harry got multiple members involved, shining a light on the importance of having these sometimes difficult chats with your mates.

Walter Forsey and Ollie Graham both ran 6km a day throughout November to represent the 12 men who lose their lives to suicide in the UK every day.

On his fundraising page, Harry Vincent said: “The hardest step is opening up, but if you do it is also the first step into being in the best mindset you can be.”

Newcastle University Surf Club: £3,127

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Newcastle Surf raised a brilliant £3,127 this year. With an impressive set of challenges, they pushed themselves to get people donating.

On 12th November, they completed a wetsuit run to Tynemouth. Starting at Haymarket Metro, they followed the Metro line all the way there, completing a half marathon (21.1km) overall.

On 26th November, despite windy and rainy weather, the girls’ team took on a tandem bike ride to Scotland.

Topping it off with a Scafell Pike wetsuit hike, the team finished the month as the sixth-highest fundraisers out of all participating Newcastle University societies.

Surf president, David Buckley, said: “Movember is a charity that means a hell of a lot to me and others in our club… there’s not many sports out there better for your mental health.”

He set out to raise £1,000 and smashed it, adding: “The engagement and support from both our lads and lasses was far beyond anything I could have imagined.”

Newcastle University Rugby Football Club: £1,133

This year, Rugby Union took on several challenges for Movember, starting with the first BUCS X Movember launch event at Cochrane Park on 29th October, offering free trims and shaves ahead of growing their taches.

Special recognition goes to Louie Burkett, who completed a 28-mile overnight run. He ran 2 miles every hour on the hour for 24 hours and single-handedly raised £1,133, smashing his £500 target. Supported by friends along the way, his motivation was to de-stigmatise conversations around men’s mental health.

Through numerous challenges, NURFC raised a total of £1,968 for Movember.

The Newcastle Women’s Rugby Football Club came together to complete an incredible 24-hour run on 28th November, raising £1,252.

Freddie Cole, NURFC president, said: “Movember isn’t just a month of dodgy moustaches and questionable hair dying.

“Movember matters to us because it encourages the conversations men often avoid,” and it is a time to “stand up and support one another and doing it together makes that message even stronger.”

Northumbria University Running Club: £3,543 

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The standout performance at Northumbria University came from the Running Club, raising a massive £3,543 and winning highest fundraisers at the Northumbria Movember awards.

They kicked off with a 60km run on 8th November, teaming up with NU Girls Who Run and Northumbria Athletic. They completed a 5km run every hour for 12 hours, starting with the local parkrun in the morning and ending in the Northumbria campus quad. Over 100 runners joined throughout the day, with societies across Northumbria Sport getting involved.

Finishing on campus, crowds came out to cheer them over the line and celebrate an incredible achievement for a brilliant cause.

Honourable mentions

Ed Cheswick and Milo Parr: £839

On 30th November, Ed and Milo rounded off Movember by running 60km for the 60 men who lose their lives to suicide globally every hour. They ran a 5km every hour for 12 hours, raising £839. This put them in the top 20 individual fundraisers at Newcastle University and eighth at Northumbria University.

Ed and Milo said: “We were inspired by Northumbria Running Club and wanted to challenge ourselves whilst raising money for a great cause.”

Sam Horton: £433

Another honourable mention goes to Sam Horton, the Newcastle student ambassador for Movember, who completed a 60km walk. Walking for nearly 11 hours, he raised £433, placing 18th on the individual Movember leaderboard at Newcastle University.

Elias Carroll: £697

Elias Carroll, the Northumbria Movember ambassador for 2025/26, ran 300km across the month, personally raising £697 for men’s mental health. He also played a key role in Northumbria Run Club’s 60km run and other Northumbria fundraising events.

He said: “Being Northumbria’s first Movember Ambassador has honestly been an unreal experience.

“Men’s mental health is something really close to me, so seeing the whole uni come together the way we did means more than I can put into words. I’m so proud of everyone who got involved. We absolutely smashed it.”

StageOne: £1,250

StageOne hosted a Movember Masquerade Ball at Frate, giving students the chance to contribute to the fundraising in classic Newcastle style: Going on a night out. The sold-out event, attended by over 400 students, marked the culmination of the month and served as a huge celebration of Movember efforts across both universities.

David Graham, director at StageOne, said: “In our eyes, it was important to take what we do best and use StageOne as a force for good to raise money for such an important cause. We wanted the event to celebrate everyone’s efforts towards Movember, whether that’s growing a moustache or getting involved in the many challenges happening across the month.”

Although Movember is officially over, you can still donate. Across the world, 720,000 men die from suicide every year. Men’s mental health isn’t something to discuss only once a year. The Movember Charity urges you to “be a man of many words”; this means carving out space for meaningful chats, digging a little deeper and checking in on your mates.

In total, Newcastle University raised £55,000 and Northumbria raised £23,000 by the end of November for an incredible cause.