The bold and the and bald

Southbrook School was a carnival of colour on Friday as the whole school supported two brave students who embraced baldness in the name of charity.

Jorge McClure, 12, initiated the event, deciding to take part in Shave for a Cure to support Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand’s signature fundraising event.

He was stepping right outside his comfort zone, he said, but this was nothing compared with what those he was helping were going though.

Six New Zealanders are diagnosed every day with a blood cancer or related condition.

Jorge’s friend Charlotte Reid, also 12, agreed to support him by having her 50cm long hair cut off to donate it to Freedom Hair in Dunedin where it will be made into a wig.

The pair even managed to rope in former All Black captain Reuben Thorne who shaved Jorge’s head, while Megan Townsend from Megan and Co Hair was on hand to tackle Charlotte’s long locks.

As a surprise to the whole school, deputy principal Richard Blackmore also got up on stage and allowed Jorge loose with the clippers on his head.

The pair’s goal was to raise $500 each through sponsorship, which they surpassed by the time they went under the clippers, and a cupcake sale was also held at the school, to raise even more money.

Jorge was really excited about the venture and was itching to see what he would look like with no hair.

‘‘My mum thinks I might look like a pimple,’’ he said.

‘‘We had to go out and buy a really warm beanie because I think I might get cold without any hair.’’

In fact Jorge didn’t look like a pimple, he actually suited the stubbly look, but he planned to shave the little hair he had left later in the day so he could polish his head.

Charlotte said she had been growing her hair for as long as she could remember, and although her mum stood in the wings and fought back tears, Charlotte herself embraced the change with a beaming smile throughout the ordeal.

Thorne said he was impressed by the efforts of the young students who were sacrificing their hair for the good of others, which was a remarkable act of kindness.