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Mailing boss’s Brave The Shave challenge

A MAILING house boss took part in a national charity head shave which raised a total of £2.2m.

Alan Purvis, the managing director of Metromail, shaved off his hair do and raised £600 Macmillan Cancer Support’s ‘Brave the Shave’ campaign.

And the entrepreneur managed to secure a hefty lump sum of £600 for the cause after being sponsored by friends, family and colleagues, at the Seaham-based mailing house.

Alan, a keen cyclist, had wanted to undertake a challenge for charity for a long time prior to trimming off his tresses for Brave the Shave.

But his suggestions of sponsored long distance bike riding were shrugged off by family members, who said it would be no hardship to him because he would enjoy it so much.

Alan said: “Every suggestion I came up with, my family or friends made me realise that deep down I would actually enjoy it – so it wouldn’t really be a sacrifice to me. I needed to find something that would be really hard for me to do.

“One member of my family heard about the Brave the Shave campaign and thought it would be a great idea to suggest it as a challenge to raise money for Macmillan, because everyone knows how much I love my hair.

“Beforehand I was really, really nervous about it because I couldn’t imagine what I would look like with it all shaved off.

“But I went through with it and am currently living with the results!

“When I first saw it I was quite speechless, but I guess I’m getting used to it now.”

He added: “I would like to thank everyone who sponsored me because £600 is a great sum to be able to hand over to such a worthy cause.

“It’s a great feeling thinking I have done my bit for Macmillan.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Felicity Collinson .