“Born and raised - Hackney, London - Currently live in West Sussex.

“IT professional working from home but with most of my work based outside the UK - consequently work some strange hours.

“At my happiest, fell walking in the Lake District or walking the Cornish coast path.

“I’m in my early 50s and prior to 2012, I had never grown any facial hair.

“Started growing a moustache in 2012 and to make it less obvious, I also started keeping a very short beard (about 2 mm). With encouragement from my Barber, I stopped trimming the beard in December 2014 and have let it grow ever since.

“The photo is from 17 April 2015, fresh back from my barber who trimmed some of the wilder growth. I like it - I get mixed reactions from friends and family. I definitely plan to keep it for the foreseeable future and I am keen to find out what it can do (I was disappointed with the moustache, which stopped growing after 6 months)”