My hair is going to a better cause

I have decided to have all my hair cut off - well, leaving 1 or 2 inches so I won't end up with a sun burned scalp in Peru!

A rash act you may think (certainly a few people round here do!), however please pause in your calling of men with butterfly nets to hear my case.

I recently found out that a friend of the family, Bessie Smith, has Motor Neurone Disease. If you wnat to find out what this merciless disease consists of then please take a look at this link. It basically robs you of your independence, your mobility and sometimes you memory and mind. All in a short space of time. There is no known cure and sufferer's can end up completely unable to move, talk, eat and even breathe independently - however they can still have complete mental awareness, it's to terrifying to contemplate.

Bessie was diagnosed last year. We used to spend many holidays with her and the family - I remember them getting married, the boys being born and vrious summer holidays. It was alsway so wonderful to get to spend time with her - she meant a lot to me and I'll never forget what a wonderful motherly person she was. She has gone from being a bright, sharp, caring woman who was a nurse to someone who only wants to sit around all day watching cartoons and behaving like a 4-year-old. MND has affected her by altering her personality - a rare result of the disease, she has dementia, and, it has also weakened the muscles in her mouth and throat so that she cannot speak or eat. She has had to have a feeding tube fitted.

This has been hard on her and her husband, Phil, who went to college with my Dad, and her 2 boys who are 15 and 19. She spends 2 days a week at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of White, where they live, as respite for her and the family. The hospice only receives 1/3 of it's funding from the NHS and has to raise the rest. They need to raise £2million every year to keep going. Due to the recession they have already had to let staff go - including the nurse who was looking after Bessie.

Phil is doing a tour of the UK on his motorbike to raise £5000 for the hospice, and I felt I would like to do something to help. I was thinking of having my hair severely trimmed before the summer, but then I found out about Bessie and it started me thinking. I had heard of the Charity "Little Princess Trust" from a friend of mine and knew that they used hair to make wigs for kids with cancer. I checked out online and they need 10-12 ". I definitley have that much so it made up my mind. I can't have it shaved due to Peru but I will go as near as I can!

If you feel you would like to sponsor me/donate money to the hospice then please go to my justgiving page. I am getting more nervous by the day about having this done, the last time my hair was that short everyone thought I was a boy! I just have to think of Bessie though and my determination returns :)