A campaign encouraging people to embrace their natural hair or do a DIY cut whilst the hairdressers are closed due to Coronavirus has raised over £7,000 for Havens Hospices.
It has been just over six weeks since the #BareYourRoots campaign launched and dozens of people and local businesses have been getting involved by either growing their roots, hair or shaving their head and encouraging others to take part and making donations to help the local charity continue their essential hospice care to children and adults across Essex.
One of those that is growing their hair to raise money for the hospice is Tegan Bragg from Benfleet. Tegan, 12, is no stranger to fundraising for charity, three years ago she grew and donated her hair to the Little Princess Charity but this time round she has decided to grow her hair out again and fundraise for her local children’s hospice Little Havens – still donating her hair to the Little Princess Charity.
So far Tegan has raised £70. Her mother Jane said, “This time Tegan wanted to support a local children’s charity with her donations so as many children as possible can benefit. Myself and Tegan have discussed hospice care in the past so Tegan chose to help Little Havens knowing that the money raised would help the charity and possibly one of the children would one day benefit from a wig made of her hair.”
Havens Hospices supporter Lisa Hudson has also taken part in the challenge by shaving her hair. The Essex Police employee said, “I support lots of charities, but I chose Havens Hospices this time as I thought that with the situation around COVID-19 the charity may be extra busy with respite care. In addition, I know a lot of their regular fundraisers have had to be cancelled so I thought I’d lend a hand to try and raise money for them.”
Jazz Zekai also decided to shave her head for the cause. She said, “When my close friend Ellie’s dad was poorly, Fair Havens Hospice at Home provided outstanding care and support for him and the rest of the family. I wanted to give back to this remarkable charity so they can carry on touching people’s lives with their invaluable compassion.”
Lydia Plews, Havens Hospices’ Senior Business Development Officer, has been overwhelmed with the support from everybody so far. She said, “A huge thank you again to everyone who has got behind this campaign and embraced their natural hair for a good cause – £7,000 will really make such a positive difference to our patients and families. With lockdown measures expected to ease in the near future, we are not sure how much longer the campaign will last so get involved now and be a Havens Hair Hero!”
How to get involved!
We are asking people to nominate friends, share photos and make a suggested donation of £3 or any amount no matter how big or small, via our Just Giving team page: www.justgiving.com/team/Bareyourroots.
You can join either join the Havens Hospices team on this page and encourage others to sponsor you via JustGiving or people can also donate via www.havenshospices.org.uk/donate
Don’t forget to tag @HavensHospices in your posts on social media with the #BareYourRoots and #HavensHairHero hashtags. Share your hair updates either at the end of the campaign or at the end of each week. The campaign will finish once the hairdressers and barbers open again.
Fair Havens and Little Havens In-Patient Units remain open to care for patients at the end of their life and the charity is also supporting the NHS by helping to reduce pressure and free up acute beds and staff. Their Hospice at Home and Managed Care Services which care for patients in the community is still running and at full capacity.
