A Bath College tutor, Sarah Bishop, has had her head shaved to raise nearly £500 for charity and encourage young people to talk about cancer.
Sarah raised nearly £500 for children diagnosed with cancer after braving CLIC Sargent’s Big Buzz Challenge.
Students from the college supported the fundraiser and were keen to rally round after hearing how Miss Bishop’s family has been affected by cancer.
Miss Bishop’s mum, Karin, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and her dad, Islwyn, has also been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Karin, who worked as a nurse for 52 years, is a big charity fundraiser and used to look after terminally ill adults and young people as part of her job.
Miss Bishop, who teaches public services, was keen to get students talking about cancer to raise awareness and stop it being a taboo subject.
She said: “The first time I had my head shaved was when my mum was going through chemotherapy and her hair had fallen out.
“There are lots of ways to fundraise, but when a female has her head shaved it’s noticeable. Hopefully people will say to me ‘why did you have it done?’ and then I can support the charity and say ‘I’m raising money for CLIC Sargent’.
“It’s a case of trying to raise awareness to get as much money to fund the research and hopefully find a cure.”
Students watched Miss Bishop have her head shaved in the Bath College salon.
Seventeen-year-old Beth Rivers was part of the volunteering team, helping to collect money on the street and order t-shirts and posters.
She said: “Sarah was very open about her story and it almost shocked us to speak about it, because we didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Now we can just talk about it.”
Miss Bishop said: “When you hear cancer on the news it’s always about adult cancer, but with the students being teenagers, it was good to relate things back to that group.
“They have done really well, they have organised t-shirts and balloons and they have been collecting around offices in the town.
“I know it’s my head being shaved, but it’s the students doing all the publicity, they have taken the responsibility for it.”
CLIC Sargent fundraising manager James McDonald, who attended the head shave, said: “This is the best bit of my job. It’s great that Sarah could take part in the Big Buzz Challenge for CLIC Sargent to support children and young people with cancer.
“It’s thanks to supporters like Sarah that we could help 6,800 children and young people with cancer last year.”
To sponsor Sarah, visit: www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Karin-Bishop-CLICSargent-fund.
