A close shave in the name of charity
22 April 2020
A group of Oldbury Neighbourhood Team officers have come up with the perfect solution to the closure of hairdressing salons and barbers’ shops.
They are all going to shave off their own hair – and, to make the exercise all the more worthwhile, they have attracted sponsorship of almost £2,000, nearly double their target, with all funds going to NHS Charities Together.
“Due to unprecedented times with the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent UK lockdown on 23 March, it was noted that there was no access to any hairdressers or barbers,” says PC John Batsford who came up with the idea for the sponsored event.
“I discussed this with my team members, two of whom had already done a sponsored head shave some five years ago raising just shy of £900 for Acorns Children’s Hospice, and suggested that we all shave our heads, raising some money for the NHS, pulling together as a team and gaining a smart new hair cut in the process.”
The team were quick to volunteer to take part so at 12.30pm tomorrow (Thursday 23 April) at Oldbury Police Station they will all be shaving off their locks themselves to ensure they observe social distancing.
Those taking part are:
PC 0398 John Batsford
PC 21738 Mike Gale
PC 23301 Josh Rai
PC 7442 Keith Tedds
PCSO 30687 Tina Faulkner
PCSO 30940 Kate Heatley
PCSO 31470 Jenny Spooner
PCSO 31387 James Howell.
While appreciative of all the team’s commitment to the cause, John has singled out Jenny for particular praise as she is getting married next year.
“Amazingly, she is going to shave her hair off with the rest of the team despite her big day being not that far off in hair-growing terms,” says John.
The team have been overwhelmed by the support they have been shown. In the first 24 hours of the JustGiving page going live, the fund-raisers had hit more than 50 per cent of their £1,000 target and they are now at £1,879 thanks to a £1,000 donation from Perrywoods Football Club where Josh used to play.
John added: “The amount of support has been fantastic. May we say a big thank you to all the people who have helped us on our journey to raise money for the NHS including Jessica Redmond and Sharn Braich whose initial help and enthusiasm helped so much.”
Support the fund-raising.
