Bunbury’s Vanessa Black and fellow brave-hearted colleagues take a cut as part of 2023 World’s Greatest Shave

It is not often you can convince people to shave their heads, less so on full public display in a busy shopping centre. Yet that is what happened on Friday for the Leukemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave at Bunbury Centrepoint. Led by Vanessa Black, five members of the Coles Bunbury Centrepoint team had their hair chopped, coloured or fully removed as part of the annual fundraiser as supporters and shoppers looked on. Suzi Sadler was the first to take the plunge, having grown her hair for two and a half years. A full shave was off the table due to an imminent family wedding, so a cutback of her lengthy locks was the order of business. Donna McCabe was the first to commit to a shaved head and was followed by Ms Black. She told attendees a health issue with a close family member last year had driven her decision to say goodbye to her hair. “Fortunately we weren’t in a situation where it was anything serious, so I thought ‘what can I do for people that actually do suffer and they do need that support network’,” Ms Black said. After trusting her daughter with the first shave stroke, Bridge Street Hair Studio hairdresser Marissa Dodd finished the job of fulfilling Ms Black’s promise. Ms Dodd thanked Ms Black and the other participants for their bravery, noting her past experiences. “When I have clients that are actually going through cancer and you have to do it, there’s such an emotional toll,” she said. William Gaylard was next in line, going clean shaven on his face for the first time in 15 years. Jonathon Lee went bolder and let the winner of a public raffle decide what happened to his hair. Eventually, it was decided he was going to receive a mohawk, with the added bonus of pink hair dye happily applied by Triple M presenter Angie Ayers. The Coles team were joined by two passersby — one who had lost a parent to cancer and another who had already fundraised $200 but thought he would have to do the shave at home. More than $5000 has been raised so far, with the hope more donations will be received. Some of the lengthy locks cut during the event will be donated to the Cancer Council for use with cancer patients. According to the Leukemia Foundation, an average of 53 people are diagnosed with a blood cancer each day, with another 16 losing their lives. To donate visit https://bit.ly/3lqVK0d.