Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

For the entire month of August I'm joining with the Armpits4August team at Belfast Feminist Network and all over the UK to let my underarm hair grow wild and free :)

The main purpose behind this is to raise money for a great charity who work to support women in the UK with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which affects 5-10% of women. As one of the symptoms is increased hair growth it means that women with PCOS have to deal with more of the sexist, body-shaming attitudes to women's body hair that we all live with. So by taking pride in our body hair we're not only raising money but showing solidarity with our sisters with PCOS.

This also means there's a secondary reason for taking part in this challenge. I know I'm as susceptible as the next person to the dogma from the beauty industry that women's bodies should be silky smooth. I believe it enough to spend some portion of my time shaving, waxing or plucking and so if I'm buying into it then I'm also part of the problem. I want to take some time to push myself a little, try to subvert the beauty myths in my own mind and hopefully change some other people's attitudes along the way. I couldn't do this if it wasn't for the knowledge that brilliant, confident women (and those just as scared as me!) are doing this too so please consider joining us!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.