A close shave - but it’s all for a good cause

John Woods had an impromptu shave - of his entire head - on Saturday night, during an evening organised to recoup cash stolen from a charity box in the bar just before Christmas.

And his efforts did not go unrewarded, raising an extra £200 to add to the £632 total raised from the evening.

The event was organised after thieves stole over £1,000 from the till and gaming machines, as well as a charity pig containing money donated by customers for Action Cancer.

“I’m not sure how much was taken altogether, but I’m sure it must have been over £1,000,” said John. “The worst thing was the disappearance of the charity pig which has been a fixture of the bar ever since I took over in 2011. Everyone is disgusted that money meant to help cancer patients was taken by the thieves.”

When he decided to try to help get some of the money back through a fund-raiser at the bar, he was delighted to discover a large number of people were behind him, with many leaving supportive comments on the social network site, Facebook.

“It went really ‘big’ on Facebook and I am delighted,” John told the Leader. “It is nice to see the other side of people and how good they can be when things like this happen.”

The fund-raising evening included music from the popular cover band, ‘Second Skin’, whose members gave their time free of charge, and also spot prizes and raffle prizes donated by local business people.

“Staff also gave their time for free, as the money they would have been paid will go towards Action Cancer,” added John. “It has been great the way people have rallied around to help.”

As for his brave new look, he has no regrets. “I had been getting a lot of stick from people who thought my hair was getting out of control, as I hadn’t had a haircut since I was married in September,” he said. “Luckily, my wife, Gemma, is happy enough with it too.”

It’s understood police are studying CCTV evidence and have also taken fingerprints from the scene but no arrests have yet been made.