Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page(s) and above is a recent picture of myself and Oakley.

Those who know me will have noted that the length of my beard has been growing for some months now and that I have a tendency to twirl and twist it in meetings etc.

Well the time has come for removal in the aid of two great causes.

Firstly The Rosie maternity Hospital at Addenbrokes. On 15th July 2024 my Daughter Kerry was bluelighted from Harlow to Rosies Hospital at Addenbrookes as she had apparently gone into labour some 3 months premature with her second IVF baby. The first having been delivered successfully under the glare of TV cameras a couple of years earlier. Oakley made his appearance a few days later on the 19th July the same day as his Dads, Brad, birthday, but a bit ahead of his due date of 31st October. He weighed in at 1lb 13oz (820grams). He then spent the next 2 months being cared for by the fantastic staff at Rosies. Kerry also had to be rushed into surgery following the birth and well Brad must have been beside himself.

Both of course survived and Oakley went through all the ups and downs such a premature baby can but the staff at Rosies were fantastic in looking after him Kerry and Brad.

Secondly as most of you will know I am in a Marching Band the Hertfordshire Showband (as is Kerry and my son Tom). This year in July we will be heading for the 9th time in succession to the World Music Championships (WMC) in Kerkrade Netherlands for the contest that is only held every 4 years. 4 years ago we were crowned World Champions in our two divisional contests. Division 1 for the March Parade and Division 2 for the March. This year we have gained acceptance for and been promoted to the top Divisions for both events and will be the only UK Marching Band taking part. The band are entirely self funding and appear at many events, both paying and non paying, and carry out other fundraising activities to help pay for instruments , uniforms practice facilities . When you are Marching 50 plus people you need a big area ! and it is costing £60,000 + for the band to attend the competition

The last contest performance for the Band at WMC will be on the 19th July ....... a coincidence haven't you seen that date somewhere before ? Yes it will also be Oakley's second birthday and his Dads 40th!

Hence splitting the fundraising between both, below are two links to the different causes I would be grateful if you would split any donations equally between the two causes.

The big Shave is now due to take place on Sunday May 3rd at Hellidon Lakes Hotel near Daventry where the Band will be in the middle of its two day Spring Rehearsal the final big build up to WMC, and Oakley will of course be there as well.

So whats the lowdown .....

At the moment the Beard measures some 8 inches from my bottom lip to its tip. Im looking for £1000 split between the two charities.

£50 - My better half Carol gets to do something she has yearned for for years to trim my eyebrows.

£150 - the first inch is gone

£250 - the second inch

£350 - the third

£450 - the fourth

£550 - the fifth

£650 - the sixth

£750 - the seventh

£850 - the eightth

£1000 - the tache comes off as well as well as any remaining beard

Just for a historical basis I got married in 1983 with a Tache.!

£1000 plus ......... the hair may come into contention !