Braving The Shave

A team of window cleaners will swap buckets of water for the barber's chair to raise money for a children's charity.

Window cleaners brave the shave for charity: Eight members of staff from JA Lee Windows will take on the Brave The Shave challenge in aid of Macmillan Cancer For Kids tomorrow. The team will all have their hair cut at Mane Street Barbers in Cockermouth and want to raise at least £2,000.

Andrew Lee, JA Lee's owner, said he had been affected by cancer and he wanted to help the charity.

He said: "I lost my father to cancer when I was 18 or 19 and I also lost an uncle and family friends to it. I saw the film The Fault In Our Stars as well as an advert for Macmillan and I decided I wanted to do something. "I then found out about Brave The Shave so we signed up to do it and set up all the lads with sponsorship."

The Brave The Shave campaign's aim is to encourage people to shave their heads and stand alongside men and women who have the illness. The window cleaners have had to resist the temptation to get a haircut until now and have been growing their locks ahead of the day.

Ready for the off: Andrew Lee prepares to have his head shaved by window cleaners. You may recognise Andrew when he was on the committee for the FWC (Federation of window cleaners).

Andrew added: "We've had a good response. The lads have been getting sponsorship and when I told them I was doing it seven out of nine staff said they'd do it. "This is the first time I have done this. I've done sponsored bike rides and sponsored swims in the past, but I've never done this kind of thing.  "I just hope my hair doesn't grow back grey! I agreed to go first and I'm going to buy the lads a lunch." The group will also go round Cockermouth tomorrow to collect donations and hope members of the public and local businesses can help them reach their target. To donate go here.