Today, I shaved for the first time in a month. And not out of laziness, either, for this is a charity beard!
As many of you might already know, I’m not running this marathon for purely masochistic pleasure. I’m running to raise money for the fantastic Kids disabled children’s charity. Kids works with the families and carers of disabled children, providing support and services to help the kids get the most out of life. They also work on transforming attitudes and shaping policy to make it possible for disabled children to be included in the play and learning of everyday life.
So, what better way to start my fund-raising than with a spot of charity beard topiary?
The plan was a simple one: for one month, I would grow the best beard I possibly could. Then, after one month had past, the good people at my current place of work, Schlumberger‘s Princeton Technology Center, would be given the chance to propose as many designs as they could come up with for possible ways in which I could craft my month of facial hair. The three best (and most amusing) designs would then be chosen and, by making donations to Kids accordingly, people could ‘vote’ for their favourite design.
Well after a tense round of voting on Monday, the winning design was finally announced: “The Biker”! (I’ll post a scan of the design when I get a moment)
Time for some before and after shots then… after one month’s growth:
(Not very impressive, I admit, but I tried!)
And after a long session with the razor…
Not as bad as it could have been, I must say! Maybe next time my colleagues at work won’t be so kind!
A big thank you to everyone at PTC for their support and donations. I’ll let you know the total raised when I empty the collection box at the end of the week. Every cent’s going straight to Kids and every cent makes a difference, so thank you!
I know the rest of you will all be clamouring to know how you can show your support too, so now would seem like a good time to mention my Justgiving fund raising page!
Just head on over to…
http://www.justgiving.com/keen4londonmarathon
…hit the ‘Sponsor Me Now’ button, and enjoy the pleasure of easy, secure, online giving! Any sponsorship received through my Justgiving page goes directly to Kids so they get the benefit of your support right away.
All your support’s going to really be appreciated by both me (it’s a great motivator!) and Kids, so please do spare a couple of minutes and a couple of mouse-clicks to show Kids some love!