Aylsham mum braves the shave

After hearing Macmillan’s August campaign “Brave the Shave” advertised on the radio, local Mum Caroline Bishop decided to shave her head to raise money for Macmillan in memory of her Grandad.

The event was held today (Friday, August 14) at St Michael’s Church in Aylsham and was a fun day for all, including a bouncy castle, face painting, cake sale and refreshments as well as a raffle and games. Caroline aims to raise £500 for Macmillan Cancer Support and has already raised £170 through her JustGiving page.

“We lost my Grandad last year through cancer, so it’s kind of in his memory,” she said. “I just wanted to do it to raise the money and to do what we can for Macmillan, because they helped my family a lot and it’s nice to give something back, but also to give something to those who are suffering going through the loss of a loved one.

“It’s a cause that’s so close to a lot of us and I just think one day we might need the support. But without people supporting them, Macmillan won’t be able to support anyone else.”

Caroline hopes that the money raised at the event will go towards staff to help support those that are going through a loss. She also believes the day will help promote Macmillan. “It’s always going to reach at least one extra person,” said Caroline, “so I just hope today does really well.

“With my family, the Macmillan nurses went round to my mum and nan and talked to them, they were someone who could understand what they were going through. I think that’s invaluable when you’re going through something like that. My Nan had her own personal Macmillan nurse. Everyone deals with things in different ways, so I think people should know that they can pick up the phone if you need somebody to talk to.

“My grandad had throat cancer. For treatment he had chemotherapy but it came back. They caught it too late the second time round so no amount of treatment would’ve prolonged his quality of life, so it was just kind of waiting for the inevitable. I just hope he’ll be proud and know that I really love him.”

Caroline thanked Reverend Andrew Beane for allowing her to hold the event at the church. You can donate through Caroline’s JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/cbish1551/

Hairdresser Lucy about to start

The finished look!

Plenty of friends and family watched the shave

This lady donated £10 to cut off the pony tail

Caroline at the start of the event