Charlotte Huggett from Franklin Templeton had her long hair cut and shaved for charity on Friday 11th June. Franklin Templeton, a global investment management organisation, where Charlotte works, has chosen Macmillan Cancer Support as their charity of the year in their London office and this drastic haircut, taking place in their Cannon Street building, will be just one part of the fundraising activities for the cancer charity as employees slowly start to return to the office and meet with each other again.
Charlotte’s locks will not be wasted as she is donating them to The Little Princess Trust who specialise in making wigs for children who lose their hair as a result of cancer treatment.
Charlotte, who is co-chair for the charity committee ‘Involved’ for Franklin Templeton in London said:
“I’m getting involved in this challenge for a couple of reasons. Not only is it a fantastic way to raise money and awareness for Macmillan, but it’s also a way of showing some solidarity with people who suffer hair loss as a result of chemotherapy; like many others, I have had family members go through cancer, and know how distressing hair loss can be. Supporting the Little Princess Trust is also particularly poignant; their wig donations can make a highly stressful event in a child’s life, a little more ‘normal’.
“Franklin Templeton’s London office chose Macmillan as our charity of the year in 2020 – we all know someone, be it family, friends or colleagues who have been affected by cancer. Macmillan have many great initiatives and opportunities, which we will continue to be involved in as an office as lockdown eases, and as the charity committee co-chair, I thought this would be a great opportunity to lead by example to show how impactful individual fundraising efforts can be – particularly when they grab people’s attention like this!”
Macmillan arranged for Bertrand from the barber shop, House of Bertrand, in Bromley to get involved in the shave. Bertrand and other barbers across London have been working with Macmillan over the last couple of years on a project to encourage more men from the black community to discuss signs and symptoms of cancer, or their experiences of cancer treatment, in an place where they feel comfortable – at the barber’s.
Bertrand said:
“Charlotte’s will be one of the most drastic transformations I’ve done in my career, but I was pleased to be asked to take part and that she is getting it done professionally! We’ve been working with Macmillan for a while now as I was shocked to discover that black men, in particular, find it difficult to discuss symptoms of cancer and other physical and mental illnesses and were not getting the support they needed. Men also struggle to talk about and share their feelings when going through cancer treatment, so Macmillan are training barbers to help our clients talk about these things and seek the right support in a place where they feel relaxed and often among friends. Who knows we may even help save a life?”
Paul Lyons, Macmillan Fundraising Manger said:
“As lockdown starts to ease across the UK, we are delighted to bring Charlotte and Bertrand together for this Brave the Shave. Macmillan Cancer Support, like so many charities across the UK, has been hugely impacted by the cancellation of thousands of crucial fundraising events due to COVID but hopefully this event will mark a small step in getting back to ‘normal’ and provide an example of the kind of events that we are still able to do. Other events include a Thames Trek that everyone can get involved with and a recent golf day where over £2,000 was raised.
“With our charity expecting to lose millions of pounds as a result of the virus, Macmillan has never needed the public’s support more – we simply couldn’t help the growing number of people who need us without fantastic fundraisers like Charlotte and the staff at Franklin Templeton in London. They will help ensure Macmillan can continue to be there for people living with cancer from the moment of their diagnosis. Go bravetheshave.macmillan.org.uk to find out more.”
