Head shave after three years without a haircut helps Henlow man raise more than £2k for charity

A Henlow man who went three years without cutting his hair has raised £2,300 for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) by shaving his head.

Matt Frost, 25, had his last haircut shortly before the first covid lockdown in March 2020. But with hairdressers shut, he decided to take the opportunity to experiment with a new look.

“There really wasn’t much else to do during lockdown other than grow your hair,” said Matt. “At first, I thought I’d grow it until lockdown ended. But as things went on and my hair got longer, I decided that if I was going to cut it, I wanted there to be a really good reason – so I ended up just letting it grow and grow and grow.”

Matt, who had previously sported a short back and sides, said his new long-haired look received a mixed reception among his friends. He said: “Some were supportive and rather liked it. Others weren’t shy about telling me it was a mess and a bit of a mop.

“Learning to live with longer hair was also an experience. You do burn through the bottles of shampoo, and it wasn’t a lot of fun waking up at night with a mouthful of hair.”

Matt finally decided to brave the scissors once again after two members of his family suffered unexpected heart issues. In 2021, his uncle, Richard had a heart attack and in 2022 Matt's father Alan, 59, collapsed while taking part in a fun run.

As doctors were unable to determine the cause of Alan’s collapse, he has been fitted with a special device that will monitor his heart rhythms for the next three years.

Matt, who works in finance, said: “What happened to my dad and uncle, made me realise just how many people are affected by heart problems. Without research into those conditions there aren’t going to be tests or treatment available to help people and that’s why the BHF is so important.”

Alongside raising funds for the BHF, Matt will be donating his former hair to the Little Princess Trust – a children’s charity that provides real-hair wigs to young people who have lost their own hair as a result of cancer or other conditions.

“I want to say a big thank you to Dan and Joe at Will Browns Hair for tackling the job. It took them about 40 minutes to get it all off and it took a lot of work and skill to cut it so it can be used by the Little Princess Trust.

“I’ve been embracing my new sleek look. Everyone’s been very positive, although I suspect that’s more out of relief that I’ve finally had a haircut than how it looks.”

Nicola Reavey, Fundraising Manager for the BHF, said: “I hope Matt doesn’t miss his old hair too much. But if he does, he can comfort himself with the knowledge that he’s done it to help two worthy causes.

“We are only able to keep funding vital research thanks to the generous support of people like Matt. Without the public’s support we would not be able to discover the treatments and cures of the future.”