Matthew Wright and Christopher Biggins, champions of Beating Bowel Cancer charity, write:

We’re all set to support Beating Bowel Cancer’s Decembeard campaign next month and hope others will join us in supporting this great cause and grow a beard for Christmas.

All you need to do is ditch your razor and get sponsored for not shaving. What could be easier?

Decembeard is a fun ­campaign in aid of a serious cause. It asks men to raise sponsorship by growing a beard throughout the month of December in order to break down the stigma of talking about bowel cancer and raise funds for Beating Bowel Cancer.

This will help the charity to support bowel cancer patients and their families and to raise awareness of the disease, its symptoms and the need for early diagnosis.

Like tens of thousands of people across the country, we have been affected by bowel cancer. Both of us lost our fathers to this terrible disease.

Around 110 people are ­diagnosed with bowel cancer every day – that’s someone every 15 minutes. But the good news is that 90 per cent of

these cases can be treated ­successfully if the disease is caught early.

The charity hopes to raise £500,000 through the campaign, which it will reach if 5,000 men raise just £100 each.

If you are interested in taking part, you can check out the campaign at www.decem beard.org, or on twitter @decembeard_uk.