After a number of their friends were diagnosed with cancer over the last 18 months, a Fermanagh native, who identifies as non-binary and goes by the name of CK, has decided to show their support by shaving their head whilst also raising money for charity in the process.

CK (32), who is originally from Arney but currently lives and works between London and New York, will shave their head during a two-part fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support this weekend in London.

"I’ve had a few friends in the last 18 months who have been diagnosed with cancer, five friends and a cousin. Three of them are in remission which is great, two of them continue to receive treatment and one of my close friends passed away over 18 months ago. They are all in their late 20s early 30s," shared CK.

They continued: "I just wanted to give something back so I decided to follow on from last year where I did 12 fundraisers in 12 months for Cancer Research. This year I thought I’d do it for Macmillan Cancer Support. I’m shaving my hair for a wig on Saturday and I've organised a run-workout-yoga here in London on Sunday. So it’s a bigger fundraiser over the space of the weekend."

Explaining why they have decided to shave their head, CK noted that a few of their friends were "understandably upset" about losing their hair through cancer treatment: "My friends who were upset, it took them a little while to adjust to the changes in how they looked after it."

"Another friend, her sister, she said that she spent quite a while looking over her wedding album, getting really upset. She wanted to be that person again. She felt that her identity had been completely stripped away regarding losing her hair with the treatment," said CK.

They continued: "I don’t really have an attachment to my hair so I thought, I’m going to shave my head for a wig. I just want to donate it to someone who will be able to use it for an event or a longer period of time."

"Also it will show my friends that we will all have short hair together. I just want to be there on supportive level," CK added.

Although CK has made the decision to shave their head, they want the focus to be on the fundraising effort and not on them: "I love doing charity work but I’m really aware of the selfishness and selflessness, so you have to promote what you are doing to raise money for charity but I don’t want it to be about me and my story, I’d rather it was to be about us, because everybody has their stories."

"I just want to give back and fundraising is a way to do that. If somebody can have a better day because of what you’re doing, that’s the way to do it," CK added.

If you wish to support CK's fundraising endeavour for Macmillan Cancer Support, you can donate via: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/c-k1.