Supporters say 'cheers' to Burnley Real Ale lover who raised £3,000 in Movember challenge

And Josh Stevenson extended the 'Movember' challenge, which involves growing a moustache during the month of November, into December after his loyal followers voted for him to keep it.

Josh (28) had already raised a whopping £2,500 by the end of November so, for December, he looked for more sponsors to boost the total.

The committee at Ighten Leigh Social Club on Padiham Road in Burnley, where Josh used to work as assistant manager, sponsored him a further £500 to bring the total to £3,000. Then three local businesses, Raidys Burgers and Rawes Grazing of Burnley and Northern Rolls of Simonstone, boosted the cause by a further £100 by accepting to run a free giveaway competition over social media.

Josh began his beer reviews during the first lockdown in March and his Instagram page flourished and he also got to know a lot of people within the Craft Beer Community.

A student at the former Hameldon Community College and Burnley College, at the end of July Josh asked five friends if they would like to join forces in raising awareness and funds for the Movember Foundation which focuses on all aspects of men's health including mental health, suicide prevention and testicular and prostate cancer.

Josh and his pals, Andy Norman from Manchester, Kris Lovegreen, who lives in Newcastle, Steven Preston of Lincolnshire, Bradford based Declan Keeble and Kevin Ell of Birmingham appealed for sponsorship and went a step further by persuading 20 breweries to donate their beer and merchandise worth a whopping £400 for a raffle and competition.

The lads also gave away a free case of beer to the person who grew the best moustache and they even managed to get a ‘Mr T' lookalike, who appeared on Britain's Got Talent, to shoot a promotional video for them.

Josh now works for Matt Kayley at Evergreen Gardening and Landscaping services. His fiancee Lydia Chadwick, and the rest of the family, are bursting with pride at Josh's achievement, including his gran who burst into tears when she saw the news in the Burnley Express when it was delivered to her home in Spain!

Josh said: "We’re already looking towards this year's Movember and we have a few ideas which include a ‘Naked Beer Calendar’, ‘Selling Personalised Beer’ or selling our very own ‘Movember Moustache Combs."