Local mo bro on the grow

FLORA Hill resident and Mo Bro Shannon Kennedy-Dee is looking to start a meaningful conversations around mental health.

First participating in Movember two years ago, Mr Kennedy-Dee said this year he wants to take it up a notch and do more fundraising and advocating.

“I’ve battled mental health with myself for the last 10 years and I’ve never really spoken about it openly, only with a few people,” he said.

“This year I’ve decided I want to talk about it more openly and break that stigma down.

“It’s something that men have to start talking about, I was always embarrassed to talk about my mental health, or a little bit ashamed. But the more I spoke about it the more comfortable I was with it”

Already smashing his goal of $200, Mr Kennedy-Dee has raised $480 through posts on his social media.

This year, Movember is donating money raised to Ahead of the Game, an initiative using sport to tech boys and men how to talk about mental health, and Family Man, a free parenting program designed to help dads look after their wellbeing.

According to Movember, six men in Australia die from suicide every day.

Mr Kennedy-Dee said he wears a moustache year round, but shaving it off at the end of the month signals him leaving his comfort zone.

“Shaving it off I get a bit of anxiety, my moustache is my comfort zone,” he said.

“So if I can do something as little as shaving of my moustache and talking about mental health, someone else may see its okay to get out of our comfort zone and talk what’s going on and what we’re struggling with.”