Fermanagh woman Jenny Castle is currently sporting a very tight new haircut, which undoubtedly wouldn’t be your average grandmother’s hairstyle of choice!

But then this Irvinestown grandmother is turning heads for all the right reasons - having undergone a number one headshave for a cause close to her heart.

She took up the challenge of Brave the Shave for Macmillan Cancer Support - inspired by a number of family members who have lost their lives to cancer.

Last Thursday, August 31, Jenny wore the t-shirt and had her hair shaved by her hairdresser Donna McCann at Donna’s Hair Salon on Main Street, Irvinestown. 

She explained that this was something that she wanted to do as she had lost a number of close family members to cancer illnesses.

Jenny recalls that in March 2016 she lost a sister in law, Helen O’Brien, who lived in Scotland, and had just turned 70. She mentions that she also lost three cousins, who were three sisters, on the Gormley side, in the past seven or eight years.

“Since that two other family members of theirs have been diagnosed and are receiving treatment,” said Jenny, who says that she doesn’t know one family that has escaped cancer.

Having also lost her grandniece Gina McCusker eight years ago, Jenny decided to sign up this year for Brave the Shave, which she had heard about last year.

Her Brave the Shave t-shirt, that she donned, remembered members in the family circle that she was braving the shave for.

On her justgiving page with Macmillan Cancer, the brave shaver has at the moment raised a figure of £230 and she also did a collection, which to date amounts to £340. Her fundraising efforts are still continuing.

She thanks everyone for their support to her initiative and she admits that she is very proud of herself for having braved the shave for Macmillan Cancer Support, while her family are also appreciative of what she has done.

According to Macmillan Cancer Support’s Brave the Shave, “thousands of people are braving the shave to stand proudly alongside men, women and children with cancer. By braving the shave you’ll be helping people living with cancer take back control so they can start to feel like themselves again.”