Karl's Story: 9 Year Mo Bro and Hall of Fame - Gold Status

Karl has been on a huge journey ever since he became a Mo Bro back in 2013. Last year, Karl was inducted into the Movember Hall of Fame and received a gold vinyl for raising over $20,000 since 2013. Karl is now moments away from reaching the incredible milestone of raising over $30,000 for Movember and men's mental health.

We cannot thank Karl enough for all his dedication and hard work and for raising vital funds to help men live happier, healthier, and longer lives. He kindly took the time to take us through his Movember journey so far:

''I have been supporting Movember for just over 9 years now. It all started with the idea of just growing a Mo, raising some cash and having a bit of fun along the way.

In 2018 after my grandfather passed away, my mindset changed when it came to Movember. Goz as we used to call him, had Prostate Cancer, and while that wasn't what caused his passing it lit a bit of a fire within me. I thought while I am happy and healthy in my life, why not do all I can to help this organisation out to raise some much-needed funds to help men and men's health here in NZ.

In a team with my brother-in-law, we raised just a tick over $1,000 which we were extremely proud of and then a year later I was just a bit under $1000 fundraising on my own. When 2020 rolled around I decided I wanted to raise the stakes and set an ambitious goal of raising $10.000. I thought that to do this I needed to put myself through some serious hurt, especially if people were going to part ways with their hard-earned cash. With that in mind, I came up with the idea of playing three rounds of golf a day for seven days across 20 different courses in Wellington and Wairarapa and also hosting a quiz night to kick things off. Long story short, it was wet, it was hot, and it was hard, but we got it done and raised a massive $11.700.

After the success of 2020 it seemed like a good idea to go again in 2021. This time we added a 2-man Ambrose Tournament into the mix to kick things off. Plenty of fun and plenty of cash raised which got things off to a great start. The seven days though did not start that well. The first two days were tougher than the full seven the previous year. In 2020 I knew nothing of what the week would be like, but in 2021 I was playing the same courses in the same order and knew exactly what was ahead. This was terrible. Mentally I struggled to get through the first two days and really wanted to chuck it in. A nice long spa and a couple of beers fixed that on night two. Again, we managed to tick off the week and we raised $12.800.

All of this would not have been possible had it not been for my family and mates. Absolute rocks. The clubs that let me play their course and everyone who donated a prize to the quiz night or golf tournament as well as those who made donations, it really kept me going.

For this year, I am trying to ramp things up again. We're rolling out the Ambrose Tournament again on 19 November at Shandon Golf Club in Wellington and then at the back end of the month I am going to have a crack at playing golf for 24hrs straight, in an effort to raise another $10,000.

I know that whatever I do it does not compare to some of the hurt and pain that some NZ men go through each year but if the money I raise helps just a little bit, then it's all worth it. The way the Movember "MOvement" has exploded in recent years is so cool to see and it's even cooler to say that I am a tiny part of that.

To all the Mo Bros and Mo Sisters out there, keep going, we can't stop now. Too many men depend on us to help.''

Karl's 9 Hole Ambrose Tournament starts this week and then he will take on the massive challenge of playing golf for 24 hours straight. It's going to be tough but we know that Karl will do an epic job.

Why not show your support? Head over to Karl's Mo Space and make a donation if you are able to.