A BRAVE Redditch landlady has raised nearly £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support during a ‘Brave the Shave’ event.
Sinead Paragreen was diagnosed with the breast and lymph node cancer last year, and has been undergoing chemotherapy. She has had three rounds so far.
Since starting her treatment she has been losing her hair, and decided – instead of it being a sad time – she was going to shave the remainder of her hair off at her pub, the Winyates Bar, surrounded by friends and family.
She set up a sponsorship page through Macmillan Cancer Support’s Brave the Shave website, and the event grew from there.
Sinead said: “We wanted to do something worthwhile and to raise some money for Macmillan, but turned into a really good event.
The evening included a tombola and a raffle, with prizes donated by Hollywood Bowl, Frankie and Benny’s and S W Hair Salon.
Sinead added: “We had lots of fun, and everyone in the community got involved.
“We wanted to make sure we could raise as much money as possible for the fantastic charity.
“They’ve helped so much throughout my treatment and it was good to be able to give some money back.”
Sinead’s husband Craig also took the plunge and shaved his head.
“It was only meant to be a couple of using shaving our heads, but in the end there was eight of us, including some punters,” added Sinead.
“It was lovely that so many people came to support me and my family, and that locals got involved.”
More than £450 was raised during the raffle, and the group is still collecting the sponsorship money, but estimates it is going to smash its £1,000 target.
Sinead said she was overwhelmed with the support.
“It was a great evening, and we’ll be holding another fund-raising event next month to raise some cash for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.”
Visit bravetheshave.macmillan.org.uk and search ‘Sinead Paragreen’ to donate.
