Kids get brave and shave

ELEVEN brave Girton Grammar Junior School students said goodbye to their hair last week for the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave.

Through sponsorships, the students raised almost $16,000 to support the foundation’s search for a blood cancer cure.

Year 6 student Charlotte Thomson had been planning for the big chop since last year as a way to support the research efforts.

“I feel very strongly about the cause, so I just wanted to do my part,” she said. “I wanted to help all the people with leukaemia.

“I can’t really believe that I did it, it feels like [my hair] is still there to be honest.”

Her long locks will now be transformed into a wig for someone who has lost their hair to cancer treatment, which she hopes will make them “really happy”.

For many of the students who took part, there was a connection to a loved one who had been treated for or lost their life to cancer.

Deputy head of the junior school Viv Bath said an application process needed to be completed by those wanting to participate, involving their family to fully understand the significance of the act.

“A lot of these children have everything they need and don’t quite understand what other people are suffering and going through,” she said.

“This [World’s Greatest Shave] assembly enables them to see that. When they shave, they don’t just shave their hair off, they talk about why they want to.

“It’s very personal and it means a lot to them.”