When I heard about Julie’s idea to use her 60^th birthday year to ask 60 people to each raise £600, I signed up 2 close colleagues on the Board of South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA), Ian Norris and Barbara Walsh, to join with me in adopting the challenge as our final project as we retire from the board this year - not your usual retirement do, it's true!

It’s that time in my life when I’m seeing so many friends dealing with the cruel effects of Alzheimers/Dementia affecting aged parents. We desperately need to raise funds for both research and services for carers and families struggling to enable sufferers to continue to be comfortable, dignified and loved throughout the various stages of their decline.

This challenge has stimulated many ideas for raising sponsorship, many of them sporting and physical – being more of a puny and uncoordinated type, I wanted to take on a challenge that would be scary but not dangerous or overly-physical – hence the decision to shave our hair.

Those of us involved are aware that families and friends see this as a bit shocking – there’s no doubt it’ll transform us – but unlike dementia, it’s only temporary; we’ll still be essentially the same people and our hair will grow back – if only the same could be true for the faculties of dementia sufferers.

We’ll be doing the deed very professionally through the generous involvement of local hair salon, The Hairband, on Ecclesall Road Sheffield, who will provide the services of a skilled and experienced stylist free of charge on Monday 18 September 2017 - you're all welcome to join us at the event for a glass of fizz and an entertaining watch no doubt!

We encourage family and friends to please sponsor generously – we know you’ll be thinking ‘it could or has happened to someone in our family’.

Participants in the big shave so far includes:

- Maggie Riley; Bob Riley, Mark Giffney; Helen Woodley and Phil Price

Thanks in anticipation, 

Maggie