Owner of Northampton barber shops shaves head to help send colleague with rare cancer on holiday

A local man who owns several barber shops in Northampton has got rid of his beloved hair in a bid to raise money.

Jake Hillery, who owns The Gentleman’s Quarters in St James and a hair training academy, has already shaved his head once in order to raise money to send his colleague, Ryan Price, on holiday.

The 29-year-old hopes to raise £5,000 so Ryan and his girlfriend can have an all expenses paid trip to Florida.

Jake said: “Ryan came as a student in my academy and then started working for me. He is now a manager and a friend.

“I want to be able to send him and his girlfriend on a nice holiday so they can forget about all that has happened.

“I have quite a big following on Instagram, around 20,000 followers, so I thought I could raise quite a bit of money.”

Ryan who is just 22, has 'ewing sarcoma', a cancer that affects bones or the tissues around bones, that has spread to his lungs. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

He has previously shaved his head, along with a group of friends, to raise money for Sarcoma UK.Jake added: “Ryan told me that he can’t put into words what this means to him. He just said thank you and said he’s really grateful.

“He knows how much I love my hair and it was really long.”

Jake shaved his head for the first time on Friday (May 29), but says he will do it again if donations keep coming in.

“I did the first bit myself then my brother did the rest of it. My hair was looking stupid anyway," Jake continued.

"I'm not too bothered by it and everyone has said it suits me anyway.

“My target is £5,000 and I’ll shave it again if I keep getting more money.”

To donate to Jake’s brave the shave, visit his website.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper when you do your weekly shop.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you