Volunteers braved the shave to “Conquer Kids’ Cancer” as part of the St Baldrick's Foundation fundraising event last night.

The annual event invites members of the community to lob off their locks in aid of medical research. Funds raised aim to speed up the search for cures through St Baldrick’s, the largest charity contributor to related research grants.

This year’s event took place in The Docksider Pub and Restaurant in Hamilton, where guests enjoyed a party atmosphere.

This year’s fundraising target is $100,000, although there were fewer participants this year.

As of 8pm last night, the charity had raised $39,143 but fundraising is open until December 31 so organisers hope they can reach the goal.

Billy Dunn was encouraged by a friend to participate. He said: “A family member asked me to do it. I let my hair grow, I had a mohawk at first and then I let it continue to grow.

“I have some friends who are battling with cancer and I also work with kids at the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Association and its motor sports youth development programme so it was easy for me to do this and give back to the kids.

“I can be an example to the kids and let them know that I do support causes like this and programmes involving children.”

Father-and-son duo Doug and Matt Kempe have been taking part in St Baldrick’s together for eight years.

Doug asked his dad to become involved after hearing about childhood cancer. He said: “It goes towards helping kids and I just really wanted to help them.”

His dad added: “Every child deserves a childhood. No family should have to go through that. They should have as much support as they can get. Also the families have to go through a lot so we want to help to make it as stress free for them as possible.”

Henry Paddison was egged on by his family and work colleagues and agreed to shave just the crown of his head, leaving a halo of hair around his ears.

He said: “I have got three kids. I have never done it before and it is a great cause. Someone at work asked me if I would do this and I said I would if we raised more than $5,000. I have to keep it like this until Monday, we raised over $6,000. I work for Ariel Re and they will match what I raise.

“I think kids’ cancer is just heartbreaking so anything I can do to help, I’m happy to do.”

Sam Clyke, the lead organiser for the event, added: “It’s always a very positive event. This year is a bit smaller. I think a lot of non-profits are having a similar experience now.

“We have a mix of newcomers and we have people who have been doing it for years. We had one boy come in who is 12 and he has been doing it for eight years — two thirds of his life.

“This year we have 23 participants, usually it is in the higher 20s to early 30s. We still are seeing funds coming in. It wont be until later next week that we will know where we are post event.”

Ms Clyke said St Baldrick’s was a worthy event that had impact locally and globally.

She added: “It is a worldwide endeavour. To date, St Baldrick’s has given 1,803 grants and funded this research in 31 different countries. Those are incredible numbers and we have had children in our community that have been impacted or unfortunately lost their lives to cancer. It is a worldwide issue that we are trying to fund a resolution for.

“It also makes a contribution to the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre’s SunSmart programmes, so we also have a local impact. Early education is so important to prevent this type of stuff, especially skin cancer on the island.”

• Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so by visitinghttps://www.stbaldricks.org/events/bermuda2025

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