Movember: Tamworth district Rural Fire Service firefighters grow the mo to raise vital funds

Now, they have turned their attention to slightly hairier issues; mental health, suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer with the efforts of their upper lip.

The decision to take part in Movember came after a couple of volunteers and close friends were diagnosed with prostate cancer, Mr McKean said, and mental illness is known to strike those in the emergency services industry at alarming rates.

"Mental health is also close to me, particularly in this organisation as well with the things we deal with," he said.

"It's common for men to suppress talking about their feelings which leads to more mental health issues.

"We're exposed to different things, last season we had to discuss priorities about where to send crews because we didn't have enough resources to cover everywhere.

"We had to make decisions about what we would protect, that has the potential to sit in the back of someone's mind if you make a decision and somebody dies or loses a house."

And it's not just male members of the RFS who have joined, Mr McKean's wife will walk 60 kilometres for Move for Movember.

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The team will take their mo's public, asking residents to vote for $1 for the best moustache on the NSW Rural Fire Service Tamworth District Facebook page.

It's all about raising awareness, Mr McKean said.

"I think we've all declared there will be some atrocities on faces throughout this month, I've already apologised to everyone for my notoriously renowned mo'," he said.

"We do have a lot of support here at the RFS but it can be as simple as having a chat or sitting around having coffee and talking about what we have been through that can make a difference."

To donate visit the Movember website and search Tamworth.