OI, WHO ARE YOU CALLING BALDY?

Margaret Barrett is feeling the cold after having her head shaved for charity.The staff nurse at Cheltenham General Hospital took on the challenge after a colleague was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.

The 50-year-old, from Whaddon, Cheltenham, said: "She had to have chemotherapy and lost her hair, which gave me the idea."

Margaret, who has been a nurse for nearly 30 years, was joined in the heady challenge by gynaecological consultant Richard Kerr-Wilson.

Together the pair have raised £1,000 through sponsorship, with money going towards gynaecological cancer research in the UK and the Kambia Hospital in Sierra Leone.

Mr Kerr-Wilson was involved in setting up the hospital 15 years ago. It enables local women to have gynaecological operations which often have social as well as medical benefits.

Margaret said: "Sometimes after childbirth the women were becoming incontinent. In some cases they are then ostracised from their villages because of this. The operation allows them to be reintegrated."

The pair are now braving the elements after the head shave at the Exmouth Arms in Bath Road, Cheltenham.

Margaret said: "I shaved his head and he shaved mine. I now have to wear a hat to protect myself from the cold.

"I was a bit nervous beforehand and it was a weird sensation having it shaved off but it's for a really good cause.

"People give me a look as if they are wondering whether I have lost my hair because I'm ill or whether I'm just being a rebel," she said.

Mr Kerr-Wilson said: "It wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be and the appearance isn't as bad. But it's colder than I was expecting. It will be interesting to see what patients think."

Onlookers in the pub also chipped in on the night, handing over £150. The rest of the money was raised by donations from friends, family and patients of the pair.

December  2007