A CHARITY head and beard shave has helped raise over £2,000 for Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.
Observer sports editor Steve Carpenter parted company with his long hair after getting his head shaved while Christie Brown lost his beard as part of a hugely successful charity evening held at the popular Four Provinces in Allesley Old Road.
A raffle on Saturday evening, which included a list of top prizes, helped increase donations and a grand total of £2,028 was raised – double the initial fundraising target.
“I’ve been working with Zoe’s Place for some time now with the Observer as their media partner in trying to spread the word about what it does and I’m delighted to have played my part in helping raise such a large amount of money,” said Steve.
“At the end of the day my hair will grow back, the important thing is that we’ve raised almost £2,000 for a charity in Coventry that does such great work for young children and their families. Thank you very much to everyone who helped and donated.”
As an added incentive for family and friends to donate, Rory Ceairns put his name forward to get his head shaved should the money raised double and he duly accepted to take part in the challenge.
“It was a fantastic night had by all,” said Christie. “Who knew so many people wanted to see us look like this”
“Well done to Rory too for joining in and helping raise more money for such a good cause. A big thank you to the local businesses that donated all the prizes and thank you to the Four Provinces too.”
Zoe’s Place provides care to babies and infants with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions and needs to raise £1.3 million every year to operate at full capacity.
The hospice, based in Ash Green, relies entirely on donations and just £700 will provide 28 hours of nursing care for a sick baby.
Mick McCann, Fundraising Manager at Zoe’s Place, added: “We extend our sincere thanks to Steve, Christie, Rory and all of their sponsors for their most kind support.
“Over 80 per cent of the funds we need to operate the hospice is raised by people and businesses in the community.
“The one thing my job does is it brings to my attention just how generous people are and the lengths they will go to support the hospice, or in this case the lengths they will have cut to show support!”
