Leigh Park barber raises thousands for children’s cancer charity with head shave inspired by Sophie Fairall

Merina Razzell, manager of Barbers&Co in Swaythling Road, had her long dark locks shorn off on Saturday in a bid to support the Alice’s Arc charity, which funds research into childhood cancer.

She had been inspired to collect donations for a children’s cancer charity by following the story of 10-year-old Sophie Fairall from Stubbington, who lost her fight with cancer last month.

Daughter Sophia Razzell, owner of Barbers&Co, said: ‘She’d been following Sophie’s Journey on Facebook and was really touched about the story.

‘There was so much locality to it and people coming in the barbers’ to discuss it.

‘My mum thought it would be nice to support something which had touched so many people locally.’

Merina waved goodbye to 22 inches of hair, which was shaved off by several members of her family - her three grandchildren, two daughters (Sophia and sister Lauren), and her previous mother-in-law who used to be a hairdresser.

Merina, who now has two woolly hats to keep her head warm this winter, said: ‘They cut off pigtails and all had a go at shaving my head. They loved it, they got into the swing of it.’

The hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust to create a wig for a young person who has lost their own hair through cancer.

Merina added: ‘I feel fantastic because it’s raising a lot of money for a good cause.

‘I’d just like to thank all of the clients and customers for their generous donations.’

The head shave has raised £2,404 in donations, with still more funds to be collected from sponsors.

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Sophia said: ‘We would like to thank everyone for their support in this fundraiser and are so proud of Merina for being so brave in shaving her hair for charity.

‘We have been open since 2020 and are glad to be supporting a charity which affected many locally with Sophie’s Journey.

‘We will be fundraising for Alice’s Arc until the end of November.’

Barbers&Co will be open Halloween night for trick or treaters, as well as offering soup for adults.

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/merina-razzell.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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