Head shave for hospice

TWO staff members at Halton Haven Hospice will be shaving their heads in a bid to raise money.

Sue Roberts and Kath Walker will both clip their hair down to a grade four to help fund services at the Barnfield Avenue facility.

Sue, from The Uplands in Runcorn, is the activities co-ordinator within day hospice and having worked there since January 1990 is one of the longest-serving members of staff.

Kath, also from Runcorn, is a therapist in day hospice and has been with Halton Haven since 2007.

Both ladies interact with patients on a daily basis and understand the impact that the hospice’s care can have on people.

Sue said: “A friend of ours has been living with cancer and we’ve just seen her with short hair.

“That inspired me and Kath to raise money for the Haven by getting our hair cut short too.

“One of our patients has even said she’s going to do it as well.

“I’ve got bobble hats ready for us so we can cope with having no hair throughout the winter.”

They will be having their hair cut on Friday, November 10.

Kath, who gets married three days before the date of the head shave, wanted to wait until after the big day before braving the shave.

She said: “I want to get rid of the processed rubbish in my hair.

“But we were also inspired by our friend who has been battling cancer and this will be a nice way of showing her our support, all whilst raising money for the hospice.

“And it will be good to see my natural hair colour again.”

Since only half of Halton Haven’s £2.5m annual running costs is covered by Government funding, they rely on the support of people like Sue and Kath to help raise another £1.25m every year.

Halton Haven community fundraising manager Chris Andrews said: “I’m very proud of Sue and Kath.

“They’re doing a very selfless thing to raise money for the Hospice and the rest of the team here really appreciate it.

“Sue and Kath know from first-hand experience the important role the hospice plays for local people and it’s fantastic they’ve chosen to raise money to ensure we can carry on doing the work we do.”

The head shave is being done by Tanya Freeman who is a qualified hairdresser.

To sponsor Sue or Kath, visit www.justgiving.com/ SueAndKathHeadShave