A FORMER hospital chef inspired by her mum’s bravery during her 23-year battle with cancer has had her hair and eyebrows shaved off to raise money in her memory.

Helen Godfrey, 48, was all smiles as she went under the clippers in front of shoppers and her family and friends today at the West Swindon Shopping Centre, in aid of Prospect Hospice.

She was egged on by jeers from the crowd and was even persuaded to have her eyebrows shaved off for a £50 donation.

All of this was to thank the team at Prospect Hospice who cared for her mother Stella Marie Godfrey before she died from cancer in February aged 87.

The great-grandmother who lived in Grange Park battled breast cancer on and off for 23 years and Helen came back from living in Australia to help care for her.

“I’m doing in memory of mum and because I am an idiot,” she joked.

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“Some people tell me I’m stupid, other people say I am brave but it is one of the last things I can do in memory of mum.

“She was loving, caring and very welcoming to anybody who came into her home. She was a great cook and she loved knitting.

“She would be absolutely horrified I am doing this but my dad Alan would be here cheering me on. We lost him four years ago and today would have been his 88th birthday, which is why I did it today in memory of him too.”

Stella was under the wing of Prospect for just over a year with the nurses coming to visit every so often and calling her to see how she was doing. She also spent a week at the hospice in February and on the night she died had the Prospect nurses at home with her.

“I wouldn’t have been able to cope without them,” Helen added.

Among the crowd to watch hairdresser Lisa Doe-Wansey from The Cutting Bar shave Helen’s hair were two of her siblings Michael and Christine, as well as ex-colleagues who she worked with at the former Princess Margaret Hospital.

Helen, who is moving back to Melbourne in June, is holding another fundraiser in May which will involve a Chinese dinner in Royal Wootton Bassett.

Speaking after all her blonde locks had been cut off, she said: “It’s a bit chilly but I feel elated that I could do it and it is a fantastic feeling.

“It was great to get people stopping and watching and egging me on to get my eyebrows done for £50.”

Helen has raised more than £500. To donate go to: justgiving.com/helen-godfrey6

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