WHEN Amanda Page was faced with losing her hair due to chemotherapy, she decided to take matters into her own hands . . . and she was not alone.

The 40-year-old, of Gorse Hill, is battling breast cancer, so she, partner Troy Welch and four friends got their locks chopped off in front of friends and family members to raise money for two cancer charities.

The scissors session was earlier this month and last Friday night Amanda handed over a cheque for £913 to Cancer Research UK and another for the same amount to Macmillan Cancer Support.

She said: “It is just making something positive out of a negative. I had lots of thick hair, it was very daunting and quite scary. I am still coming to terms with having a bald head.

“I was brave on Sunday and went out without anything on my head. It is just getting used to it. Troy’s is growing back lovely, but mine isn’t.”

Amanda, who was diagnosed with the disease in March, had surgery in April and started chemotherapy in June.

She has had two out of her six scheduled chemotherapy sessions, which she has every three weeks, and will undergo radiotherapy when it finishes.

She said: “For two weeks after the chemotherapy, I am ill and feel poorly and on my third week I feel better and get ready for the next one.”

Amanda was expecting to raise about £200 with the headshave, held at the Ferndale Road Centre, but it snowballed into a huge fundraiser.

She said: “My aim was to get 200 people to sponsor me at £1 and then it escalated and at the last count there was £600 for each charity. By the end of it, there was £1,800 between them.

“The place was packed. It was lovely. My 15-year-old daughter, Asta, was there and my family and friends. It was just brilliant.

“Asta has been really supportive and so have Troy’s children, Jordan and Kayla.

“I feel quite lucky and I am positive. I am quite humble about how everyone has helped. It has been excellent. The charities were elated.”

There was also a raffle at the fundraiser and Amanda thanked all the people who donated prizes for the two charities.

She said: “I use the Macmillan website a lot for support, because you get to speak to people who have been through it, or are going through it, and it makes you feel like you are not alone. It is superb.”

Amanda said that any more money donated would be given to the Prospect Hospice.