Basically, I have had long hair my whole life and on 1st September I am going to shave it off for charity. The beneficiaries of any monies raised will be the RNLI and Mind. If you are able to donate to this cause, I would be very grateful. If want to know why I’m doing it, please read on.

I don’t think there’s been a time when I’ve had short hair since, maybe, the age of 3. Literally everyone who knows me now, save my parents and brother, will only ever have known me with long hair. I have had ‘proper’ long hair since I was 16 for two reasons, both of which are linked to my chosen charities.

In my early teenage years, I had decided I was a ‘surfer’; in actual fact I was a windsurfer, for which my passion began when I was 13. Since then, my life has been shaped by my continued love of the sea and watersports in general. One of the key reasons this has even been possible is thanks to the RNLI, who saved my life when I was 14. I got into trouble bodyboarding in a rough sea and the lifeboat crew saved me from getting pushed onto a rock groyne; they were awarded medals for bravery for saving me.

26 years later and I haven’t needed them again, but I know plenty of the windsurfing community who have, and we all know that the volunteers that man the boats wouldn’t think twice about heading out to save us if required. I know the RNLI are a wealthy charity, however, this year, their fundraising has been drastically cut and so it seems a good time to try and give something back.

The second reason is a little less obvious and seemingly unrelated. I hate my ears. You read that right. I hate them, they are big and they stick out.

Now is a good time to state that I don’t have a sob story and there is absolutely no need to feel sorry for me as you read on. I was picked on a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary, got called a few names but nothing that scarred me; I didn’t have a difficult school life, never cried myself to sleep, and certainly had no suicidal thoughts. But I did grow my hair - it matched the ‘surfer’ image. Many of you will have heard me ‘joke’ that I use my hair to cover my ears. The fact is I’m not joking. If I could have ever afforded it, I would have had them pinned back.

This is possibly a surprise to those who know me because I am a confident guy. It’s clear that I have not been hindered by self-consciousness or anxiety, in fact, it’s probably contributed to the person I am today. And yet, I am 40 and I still hate my ears! I am 40 years old and I am embarrassed about how I look. It has only dawned on me recently that this is a mental health issue of sorts which I want to talk about. The reason I want to help normalise the conversation about mental health is because my wife and I have kids.

As they begin to navigate those tricky teenage years, they will doubtlessly start comparing themselves to perfect-looking people living perfect-looking lives on social media. When that happens, it will be our job to reassure our kids that they are totally normal and beautiful and it doesn’t matter what other people think anyway. How hypocritical of me is it to tell my kids not to care what others think when I feel self-conscious and embarrassed about an aspect of my appearance at 40 years old?!

The pressure on young people today, generally exacerbated by social media, is orders of magnitude greater than how I feel now or have ever felt. Wanting to fit in, wishing to be cool, wondering how you can get what others have... these are all common teenage insecurities but social media has turned them into a mental health pandemic. FOMO, anxiety, depression, inadequacy, loneliness and self-harm are all negative side effects of social media. I don’t want my kids to suffer that. And so I am doing two things; firstly I am shaving my hair to show them I don’t care and I am happy with how I look. Secondly, I am doing this to raise money for the mental health charity, Mind.

Mind have specific programmes for young people to help them deal with the pressures of the modern world. They also provide help, advice and guidance about mental health to people of all ages, the money you donate will go towards helping them continue this vital work.

I know times are tough right now and if you need to hold on to your hard-earned money that’s completely understandable. However, if you are able to, please consider donating to this cause. If you are a fellow watersports enthusiast, if you have ever needed to talk about mental health or know someone who has or if you just think it’ll be funny to see me with no hair, please give what you can. Also, please share this campaign as far as possible. I know quite a few generous people so the target is ambitious, but I reckon it’s achievable!