I was inspired to fundraise by a friend of mine, who, at his 60th birthday party a few years ago heard that a mutual friend was going to cycle from John-O-Groats to Land’s End the following summer to raise money for the Wooden Spoon charity. On the spur of the moment my friend decided to join him on his fundraising adventure. He achieved his fundraising goal the following June. I had my own 60th birthday just before I started my challenge, in October 2016.

I chose to grow my hair for a year for a number of reasons: I wanted to do something unusual, something that would have a strong visual impact (I have pretty thick hair!) and it's something that I had never done before – I’ve never grown my hair or beard long in my life! (And also something that doesn’t take hours and hours of training!!!).

I chose to fundraise for the Wooden Spoon because it is a charity I am familiar with. I joined a running club in 1997 and each summer they raised money in order to send a team of runners off for the Wooden Spoon’s “Four Peaks Challenge” – running up each of the four highest peaks in Scotland, England Wales and Ireland. As a club, we have been raising money for Wooden Spoon ever since.

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