A Shrewsbury shop assistant is planning to raise hundreds of pounds to help youngsters in Africa – by growing a beard for Christmas.<\/p>\n
John Brownlie will be hanging up his razor on December 1 for a month, though he admits that he\u2019s unlikely to get a kiss from his wife Alice until the New Year, thanks to his unusual fund-raising, as she hates him with bristles.<\/p>\n
The 65-year-old store assistant at WH Smith in Shrewsbury\u2019s busy Darwin Centre, was inspired by his son Jocelyn, who works for the Dodd Group in Telford and who last year grew a moustache for Movember and together with six others raised \u00a3600 for prostate cancer research.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to just grow a moustache, I wanted to see what it would like to have a full beard,\u201d said John, who is aiming to raise funds for three charities in Africa: Medic Malawi, Self Help Africa and Article 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose Medic Malawi – which funds a hospital in Mtunthamaa clinic for feeding the malnourished and an orphanage for 70 children – because it is run by Stephen Drew, who worships at the same church as me, Shrewsbury United Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, I\u2019ve been doing a lot of volunteering lately for Self Help Africa, which works with smallholders to tackle hunger and poverty through food production and rural enterprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done bag packing at Marks and Spencers and a garden centre. At the Ludlow Festivals we ran a bag cr\u00e8che for visitors to raise money for that charity, and so it seemed ideal for this fund-raiser.<\/p>\n
\u201cArticle 25 <\/strong>works to enable the 25th article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by building solutions to global problems.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year I went to Sierra Leone with this charity, to build a village and HQ building in the Gola Forest National Park, with the aim of developing sustainable livelihoods for the people who live there,\u201d added John, who has three children and one grandchild.<\/p>\n No stranger to charity work oversees, the former chartered civil engineer has travelled the world for the last 20 years carrying out building work on an army camp in Kosovo after the conflict, as well as constructing an exhibition centre in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n \u201cI am asking people to donate what they can \u2013 already I have \u00a3200, with donations from \u00a31 to \u00a320. I\u2019m over the moon with what I have received so far.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst bit is the start, when there\u2019s a few days\u2019 worth of stubble. The managers at WH Smith were very understanding when I told them I wanted to grow a beard for charity \u2013 I know some stores don\u2019t like staff to have beards.<\/p>\n \u201cMy colleagues at WH Smith and other stores in the Darwin Centre have also been very generous in supporting me with my charity work.<\/p>\n \u201cI realise that my wife, Alice, won\u2019t kiss me over Christmas, because she doesn\u2019t like beards. So I will have to wait until I shave it off, at the start of January.<\/p>\n \u201cI will probably go to the barber to have it shaved off, rather than doing it at home – and I\u2019ll be asking him to donate to the appeal, instead of charging me!\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: \u201cThe work that John does for charity is admirable.<\/p>\n \u201cGiving up shaving sounds like a fun way to raise money for these projects, and I know visitors to the Shopping Centre are always generous so I\u2019d appeal for them to pop in to WH Smith and support him. He\u2019ll be easy to spot \u2013 he\u2019ll be the one with the beard!\u201d<\/p>\n You can also support John\u2019s fund-raising efforts online at uk.virginmoneygiving.com\/JohnDBrownlie<\/strong><\/p>\n