Phil shaves beard for charity after 20 years

BUS driver Phil Clowes says his wife and mum are struggling to recognise him – after he shaved off his hair and signature beard for charity.

Phil, aged 51, had been sporting his facial hair for more than 20 years.

But he decided to shave it off to raise funds for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice in Blurton after a colleague at Aimee’s bus company announced a charity event for the same cause.

Phil, from Cheddleton, said: “One of the people I work with was doing a 5k run and I wanted to do something to help.

“I knew I would not be able to run that far so I thought it would be a good idea to brave the shave.

“I have had a beard now for 20 years and it is what people know me by.

“People have been unable to recognise me without it. Even my own mother struggled because it has been so long that she could not remember me without a beard.

“It was strange to see myself without one and my head felt colder after the shave. It was all a bit of a shock.”

Phil’s efforts raised more than £400 for the Dougie Mac which cares for people with life-limiting illnesses across North Staffordshire.

He added: “I have known friends and family who have been in there and most people in North Staffordshire know a story about the hospice.

“I thought that they do such a good job in looking after people that I would do something to help.”

Phil’s new look was a shock to his wife Lynn.

The 53-year-old said: “We have been together for seven years and I have never known him not to have the facial hair.

“It was such a shock to see him without the beard. I am so incredibly proud of him”

Phil’s stepdaughter Molly Newton, aged 21, shaved off his facial hair at Aimee’s bus company in Leek.

Phil said: “I would like to thank Molly for shaving my head and Garth, Karen and Gary at Aimee’s for letting me do it at work.”