Facial fur was at the heart of a fund-raising drive by staff at a Mitsubishi dealership which supported cancer charities with a Movember challenge.

Seven team members from the sales and after sales departments at Riverside Eastern Ltd in Main Street in Seamer, near Scarborough, grew facial fur of all shapes and sizes for the Movember Foundation.

The ‘growathon’ was organised by Parts Supervisor Chris Whalen, who was joined by technicians James Tiffney and Bryce Cape, master technician Paul Burnett, after sales assistant Richard Malton and sales executives Chris Almond and Lee Calden.

Chris said: “It was brilliant. I’m very pleased with how it went. Thank you to everyone who donated and to our directors for matching what was pledged. And thanks to all the guys who took part. Some even grew beards, too.”

The fund-raising team called themselves the Riverside Motors Mustachios and succeded in raising £165, which was matched by management, meaning £330 in total for Prostate Cancer UK and the Institute of Cancer Research. The money will go towards the treatment of prostate and testicular cancers.

It was the first time that the dealership took part in Movember, and Chris added: “It was all good fun and we had a good laugh. We’ll probably try to get more people involved next year. In fact, I’m thinking of getting our sister branch in Doncaster involved. Perhaps we could even make it a network-wide challenge.”

One in eight men in the UK will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. The disease is often difficult to spot because of a lack of symptoms, and diagnostic tests are currently poor. Testicular cancer, meanwhile, affects around 2,200 men in the UK each year.

Pictured are Chris Whalen, Bryce Cape, Paul Burnett, James Tiffney and Chris Almond, Richard Malton and Lee Calden