A man who had his own brush with cancer was crowned Mr Movember at Gisborne’s official mo judging yesterday.

John Reid was awarded an AEG cordless drill pack as part of his achievement for growing the region’s “best” moustache. And it was not without style — a thick salt and peppered multi-pronged beast.

Out of 13 “mo bros” scrutinised by a mostly-female judging panel, Mr Reid was judged the ultimate winner of the local Movember competition at Bunnings Warehouse.

Movember is a month-long campaign to raise awareness around prostate cancer and depression in men.

Mr Reid said the win helped him defend his title as the best mo-grower among 15 other Fulton Hogan workmates for the second year running.

“I won the work competition last year,” he said.

He competed against about 50 others at Fulton Hogan last year.

“We just get in behind anything for a good cause,” he said.

But it was more than just that.

“I certainly know plenty of people affected by cancer,” he said.

At the moment Mr Reid has two family members suffering from cancer.

If it wasn’t personal enough already, “I’ve actually been affected by cancer myself — melanoma”.

Mr Reid said although his scare was about five years ago, the ripple effect left in its wake helped motivate him to raise money for Movember.