A LLYN woman has bravely shaved off her hair and raised over £5,000 to help a family member pay for lifesaving treatment.

Laura Thornicroft, from Abersoch, raised £5,600 after she held a fundraising evening which saw her shave off her beloved long locks.

The 26-year-old has been raising funds on behalf of a family member, who is suffering from prostate cancer, who is desperate need of medical treatment.

She said: “The reason I held this fundraiser was for a family member, who lives abroad, who is sadly suffering from prostate cancer. The medical facilities are not available to them where they currently live so it means travelling abroad to receive care.

“The treatment is very expensive, a couple of other family members managed to get £8,000 together but we still needed £5,000.

“We at no point thought we were going to ever raise that much but through the kindness and generosity of our community we managed £5,600, which is amazing! We were extremely pleased.”

The former Ysgol Botwnnog student said she found the prospect of shaving her hair very daunting.

“The idea for the fundraiser came from my brother, who’s a surfer, and had long hair in the summer and his friends one weekend dared him to shave his hair off.

“He agreed to do it but said if he did he would want sponsors and he would donate all the money to Cancer Research, he made around £1,500.

“So I figured I could probably make a little bit more being a girl and my hair meaning a lot to me!"

Laura says she has been overwhelmed with the support from the community and that it would not have been possible to pay for the medical treatment without them.

Read the full story in this week’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News