A mum is to sacrifice her long brunette locks as she braves the shave on what would have been her late brother's birthday to raise money for a cause close to her heart.
Karen Webster, of Farm Close, Burton, is asking 3,000 people in Burton to pledge £1 each, or more if they can, to Cancer Research as she has her long hair shaved off. And she will be undergoing the transformation in public - in the window of Cancer Research shop, in Station Street, where she is a volunteer. It takes place on Saturday, May 19, which would have been her brother Mark Tremayne's birthday.
Mark was just 39 when he died from lung cancer on December 28, 2012. He had been diagnosed in the previous January and was desperate to reach his 40th birthday, but never made it, she said.
Miss Webster also had two aunts and a friend, who died after being diagnosed with cancer. The 42-year-old has set herself a fund-raising target of £3,000, and is asking for enough people to sponsor her £1 to help her hit her target.
To help even more people with her charitable efforts, Miss Webster will also be donating her 31 inches of hair to the Little Princess Trust, which will turn it in to wigs for children who have lost their hair due to the effects of cancer treatment or other illnesses.
The mother-of-three is following in the footsteps of her daughter, Jamie-Leigh Webster, 17, who shaved her head in January also to raise money for Cancer Research.
Miss Webster said: "I was talking to Brenda Lund, who runs Cancer Research shop, and asking how many people come to Burton and if it is possible to get 3,000 people to donate £1. If they wanted to donate more than that it is up to them.
"To get 3,000 signatures promising to donate £1 will mean that we will raise £3,000. I have friends and family who have had cancer and sadly they did die.
"I am really excited about it as it is going to a good cause and it is keeping my brother's memory alive and with my daughter having her head shaved I wanted to do my share of the fund-raising.
"Since losing my brother I have wanted to do this and work in the Cancer Research shop. I will volunteer here for the next 10 years if they will have me."
She admits that she is funny about who cuts her hair after not having had it snipped for a few years now, so it will be a real honour for the person chosen to lop off her locks.
The Cancer Research shop will turn the head shave, which will take place in the shop window, in to a party with a balloon arch, cakes, raffles and a tombola. So far Miss Webster has raised more than £700 of her target and will be in the Swadlincote Cancer Research store on Monday, March 19, and in Coopers Square shopping centre on April 28 to raise awareness of what she is doing.
Miss Webster said: "Some people do not have a choice about losing their hair which is why I am willing to shave mine off and donate it for wigs."
People wanting to donate to the cause can do so by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/burton-sh1394 or dropping in to the Cancer Research shop in Station Street, Burton.
