A HEXHAM man had his hair and eyebrows shaved off to raise over £500 for a cancer charity.

Tom Clark was thrilled when Bob’s Barbers said they would complete the shave free of charge for his charity fund-raiser for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Having undergone two operations for bladder cancer around two years ago, 50-year-old Tom was having three-monthly BCG treatment to prevent the cancer returning. This has recently dropped to every six months.

After seeing an advert for the charity’s ‘Brave the Shave’ campaign, he decided to take part himself.

On Saturday, August 26, he bit the bullet and went under the razor, raising a total of £502.94.

“I felt really, really lucky that I didn’t lose my hair,” he said. “I felt like I had dodged a bullet, so I decided to shave mine off because some people don’t get a choice.”

“Macmillan gave support to my wife and family so they could stay strong which was just what I needed.

“They made sure my loved ones were looked after and not just me.

“I used them a bit for counselling and they helped me to come to terms with it.

“To everybody else, I couldn’t explain what I was going through, but they understood it.

“This is us helping to pay them back because the help they gave us was incredible.

“I thought I would raise a few pounds, but I really wasn’t expecting to raise this much. I want to thank everyone who donated – it was amazing to see the support I got.”