Celebrity Babes lay down Tache Challenge to Men
It's official - facial hair is more common than you think! According to a new survey by 118118, three quarters of UK men have experimented with facial hair in their lifetime. Why? Over 50% of them grow a tache or beard either to impress women or to appear more mature and intelligent.
Now there's a new reason -TacheBack - a national fundraiser which, with the help of celebrity supporters Katy Hill and Sarah Champion, is urging the UK's men to prove their manliness by getting sponsored to grow a moustache and raise money for The Everyman Male Cancer Campaign.
Virgin Radio's Sarah Champion and presenter Katy Hill certainly looked impressed at the launch earlier today. They donned fake taches and paid homage to facial hair by posing for a photograph with an experienced pro from the 'Handlebar Moustache Club'. Now in its third year, TacheBack is asking men whether they are man enough to take on the hair-raising challenge this September.
118118, the UK's leading directory assistant service and sponsors of TacheBack, conducted the survey by questioning over 2500 men in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The findings showed that 30% of British men would prefer to grow the 'handlebar' moustache, whilst 25% would grow a Fu Manchu as immortalised by Christopher Lee, 20% would go for a 'Wild West' and 14% for a 'Dali.'
Cities Liverpool for England and Glasgow for Scotland claim the crowns as the UK's hairiest places, with 85% of blokes at some point in their lives having sported facial hair.
When asked who their favourite tached celebrities were, almost a quarter of men voted for the 118118 twins, 17% favoured Tom Selleck, the star of the 80s series Magnum PI, whilst Des Lynam and 'porn star' Ron Jeremy received 13% of votes each.
"Let's face it, the 118 boys look great with their 70s retro taches.", says 118118 spokesperson William Ostrom. "However, it must be revealed these boys are fooling around - those handlebars are actually fake. For the TacheBack appeal, only the real thing will do. "
TacheBack hopes to build on the success of last year and beat the £100,000 raised, which went directly to support research into prostate and testicular cancer at the Everyman Centre - part of The Institute of Cancer Research.
According to Philip Black from the TacheBack Campaign, "Cultivating a moustache may seem like a daunting and hair-raising prospect, but it's really simple. If you want to prove to women that you are man enough, why not take on the TacheBack challenge this year and emulate such tached legends as Burt Reynolds, Des Lynam or Tom Selleck."
-ends-
For further information, images, or to arrange interviews please contact:
Charlotte Muskett
The Everyman Campaign
Tel: 0207 153 5312
Email: charlotte.muskett@icr.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
For more information about joining in with the TacheBack challenge and how to go about getting sponsorship please call 0800 731 9468 or visit www.tacheback.com
Images
High resolution pictures of Katy Hill and Virgin DJ Sarah Champion supporting TacheBack are available upon request by contacting Charlotte Muskett (see above). All pictures published must contain the credit - Katy Hill and Virgin DJ Sarah Champion supporting TacheBack
About the Survey:
118118 conducted their survey to a sample of 2500 random men in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham
About TacheBack and Everyman:
The Everyman Centre, at The Institute of Cancer Research, is Europe's first and only dedicated male cancer research centre. Everyman must raise at least £1.5 million each year to support the vital research into male cancer conducted at the centre.
TacheBack is an annual campaign organised by Everyman to raise vital funds and also awareness of male cancer. For more information visit www.tacheback.com
To find out more about Everyman and ways in which you can help raise funds for male cancer research or for further information on this disease please contact Everyman on 0800 7319468 or logon at www.icr.ac.uk/everyman
Please note:
Unfortunately the press office are unable to answer queries from the general public. For general cancer information please refer to The Institute's cancer information page.
