A BERE ALSTON group which has been fundraising for 12 months saw their hard work reach a climax recently, when they presented a massive £1,600 to two charities. The Hair Bare Bunch, comprising Debbie Doidge, Mandy Fletcher, Sam and Nick Kendall, Yvonne and Kevin Howard, Katherine Law, Debbie Alsop, Colly David, Stacey Clayton and Steff and Simon Molyneux, have spent the last year organising car boot sales, discos and jumble sales to raise money for St Michael?s Special Care Baby Unit in Bristol and Cancer Research. The idea to raise money for these charities stemmed from personal experience ? Mandy Fletcher has been fighting cancer for the last year and Nick and Sam sadly lost their son, Ben, who was cared by the special care baby unit. Sam said: ?We needed to do something positive and to keep our minds occupied and doing this has certainly helped ? it has been hard work, but well worth it, with lots of fun along the way. ?I am overwhelmed by my fellow bunch members? enthusiasm and support for us during a very difficult time and will always remember that. I am also glad that we can raise funds to help these worthy causes.? The charity cheques were presented at a grand finale disco in Bere Alston Parish Hall, when Debbie Doidge and Nick Kendall were sponsored to have their hair shaved off and the Rev Nick Law had his beard shaved, with the expert help of Tracey Westlake and her colleagues from the Freshair salon at Dousland. Debbie said: ?It was a very emotional experience, bringing home to all of us why we had done the year?s fundraising, but I am glad I have done it.? In a last-minute fundraising gesture, Dave Wooldridge, who runs the Night Lights disco, volunteered to have his head shaved as well and raised £70 from the crowd in the hall. The Hair Bare Bunch would like to thank everyone who has supported them so generously at each event ? but say the fundraising has not stopped yet. They will now spend the next year raising money for two children in Bere Alston who suffer from cerebral palsy.
