Derek's close shave is a big fundraiser!

Derek Peverill has had a close affinity with his beard for a very long time.

Yet it took him no time at all to decide that it had to go – in order to help support the work of the Cancer Care and Haematology Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury.

Derek, from Pitstone, near Tring, was keen to do something to repay the CCHU staff who had recently treated his wife, Lynn, with great care and kindness. So he allowed his beard to grow in order to shave it off and raise money for the Cancer Care and Haematology Fund.

The deed was done at the Curiositea Rooms café in Pitstone last month with friends and supporters looking on. Derek's loss was our gain! Remarkably, since then he has been able to raise around £1,000 through bucket collections and online donations.

Thank you so much Derek; it really was a case of hair today, gone tomorrow!

The Cancer Care and Haematology Fund is a charity set up to help those diagnosed with cancer and haematology based illnesses and who are being treated by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.  Through public fundraising a specialist unit – the CCHU - was built and opened in January 2001 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury. The charity continues to provide financial support for projects that benefit patients cared for at the CCHU, the Sunrise Unit in Wycombe Hospital and in community settings across Buckinghamshire and neighbouring counties.

If you're thinking of fundraising for CCHF, please let us know at: info@cchf.org.uk

Photo above: Derek's beard before, nearly there ... and gone

22 July 2025