A father and daughter duo have waved goodbye to all their hair to raise £1,300 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Sidmouth Herald: Brian Highley and his daughter Alicia both shaved their head in memory of mum and wife Patricia, who died 12 years ago from cancer. Picture: Brian HighleyBrian Highley and his daughter Alicia both shaved their head in memory of mum and wife Patricia, who died 12 years ago from cancer. Picture: Brian Highley (Image: Archant)

Brian Highley and Alicia Arbury braved the shave in memory of Patricia Highley who died 12 years ago after being diagnosed with cancer.

Grandfather-of-five Brian joined his daughter for the challenge and had his beard and head shaved in front of a crowd at the Cannon Inn close to the family’s former home in Newton Poppleford.

The 74-year-old said it was important to give back to causes like Macmillan that supported his family.

The father-of-three, who has overcome his own cancer diagnosis, said: “It was Alicia who started it, losing her mum at the age she did and said she would brave the shave and said ‘what about you dad?’ so I joined her to do it.

“People have been very generous with donations, it’s just amazing that everybody wanted to do it. On the day the pub was packed with people, jamming in £10 notes.

“I think support for both the patient and the family is the most important thing.

“It’s very difficult to go through that kind of situation, I do not think a lot of people know how to talk to you.

“We do not have any Macmillan nurses in this area anymore, it was so helpful in our case.”

Alicia had her blonde hair shaved off by Sara Paleschi, who also cut Patricia’s hair before she underwent chemotherapy.

Brian said: “Anyone who has chemotherapy are advised to shave their head so it is not a shock when they wake up and find lumps of hair on the pillow.”

Alicia, 32, is set to fare better than her dad during the winter months as she has headed abroad for a long winter holiday taking her across the Far East to New Zealand.

Brian, who now lives in Woodbury, purchased a woolly hat, but has swapped to a Rolling Stones baseball cap after finding it stuck to his newly shaved head.

He said: “Woolly hats are not a good idea when you have shaved your head, it’s like velcro and it sticks to your head.”

Brian, who was a question writer for Trivial Pursuit for 25 years and a script writer for Spitting Image, is currently writing a new quiz book, aimed at pub quiz masters.

Any further donations can be donated to Macmillan’s directly.