Dubbed #BareYourRoots, dozens of people and local businesses have been getting involved by either growing their roots or shaving their head and encouraging others to take part and making donations to help the local charity continue to care for children, young people and adults with complex or incurable conditions.

After seeing the campaign online, Dean Shaw from The Underfloor Heating Store based in Basildon – a dedicated supporter of Little Havens – decided to get involved and shave off his hair. Dean says, “Having seen Havens Hospices post on online, I thought to myself what can I do to help?  I can’t visit the hairdressers and we are stuck indoors longer than normal, so I decided to ‘Covid-cut’ to raise what I can to help the charity.

“I recently had my first child who is healthy and well. However, I know that this unfortunately isn’t the case for many.  The company I work for have supported and donated to the charity before and I know what a great job they do.  I originally set a target of £200 and we achieved this in about three hours – I then braved the shave! After posting pictures of my head that evening, people continued to donate, and we reached £330.” In addition to the amount Dean has fundraised, The Underfloor Heating Store has generously donated a further £1000 to the charity.

Gemma Smith from Leigh is also ‘baring her roots’ to raise money for the charity which is a cause very close to her heart. Gemma’s son Oscar was cared for at Little Havens Hospice. She said, “Walking into Little Havens was like a dream come true for us. It took away all the simple things like cooking, washing and let us spend the precious and limited quality time we had with our son and my daughter who was only aged two at the time. It was filled with love and support from all the team and no words will ever be enough to describe how invaluable this place is for people needing end of life care.

“They not only cared for my baby boy, but there was so much for my daughter to do too which allowed us to spend time with our baby.”

Barry Linger is a Trustee for Havens Hospices and is growing out his beard for the cause. So far, he has raised £1,200. He said, “I am aiming to raise vital finds through growing my beard in exchange for sponsorship so we can continue to care for those young adults in our community with incurable conditions and their families. I have been involved with The J’s since its fruition and I am so proud to have witnessed the growth of the charity and the difference it has made to our J’s families.”

Louise McKay, Senior Staff Nurse who works in the Fair Havens Care Team is embracing her natural hair for the cause. She said, “I wanted to support this campaign during the Coronavirus pandemic because it’s something I can easily do during lockdown.

“As a member of the Care Team I see every day how hospice care makes a real difference to patients and their families.  Life can be difficult for people with complex or incurable conditions and at the hospice as always, we are doing everything we can to ‘Make every day count’ for everyone we care for. Whether it may be helping patients to keep in contact with their family via social media, helping to improve their symptoms, enabling people to fulfil their wishes or supporting them and their families during the most difficult time of their lives – hospice care makes a real positive difference so it’s vital to support these services during these unprecedented times.”

Lydia Plews, Havens Hospices’ Senior Business Development Officer, has been overwhelmed with the support from everybody so far. She said, “It is so heart-warming to see so many people get involved and have fun with this campaign whilst they have been stuck indoors and not been able to get to the hairdressers.

“Thank you all for taking the time to support the charity and also a huge thank you to the local businesses including the salons that have shared our campaign to their clients and customers – your support means so much to the charity. Because of everyone’s donations and support we can continue ‘Making every day count’ for our patients and their family during these very difficult times. After having to postpone and cancel our major fundraising events, our income is falling just as demand for our specialist care is increasing so every donation from you makes a such positive difference to everyone we care for. The campaign isn’t over just yet and we still need your support, so get involved 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 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 and click on the ‘donate’ button.

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.