A MUM-of-two gave up her crowning glory to raise money for charities close to her heart with help from a Crewe hairdresser.

Wendy Brown, 44, had her waist length hair lopped off to boost finds for the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK and Cancer Research in front of shoppers at Tesco in Crewe where she works in customer services.

Her husband Robert Brown, 62, a retired pub manager who used to run the British Lion on Nantwich Road, had suffered from diabetes and a heart condition. Robert, known as 'Choco' to customers, sadly died of Covid in February.

Wendy said: "Robert had been managing his health issues until Covid came along. He put up a brave fight but passed away just a few weeks after contracting the virus.

"He always loved my hair long but I wanted to do something really different and meaningful to support the charities.

"All three are Tesco's chosen causes of the year so I was also able to support people with cancer by donating my hair to the Princess Trust which provides real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their hair because of the condition."

Hairdresser Yvette Hinde from Crewe put Wendy's hair in plaits before cutting them off with clippers. They were sent off in sandwich bags to the wig charity by Wendy who is loving her new short asymmetric style saving hours of drying time.

She added: "I've worked in Tesco since it opened in Crewe and some regulars have done a double take when they see me. They love it though and I'm really pleased at the comments including those saying it knocks 10 years off. It was really nice of Yvette's salon to send her along on a busy Saturday."

Shoppers chipped into collection buckets and along with sponsorship money from colleagues, Wendy has raised £200 so far. She's going to continue collecting to mid-November.

Yvette, who works at Steven Burgin hair salon in Nantwich, said: "Wendy had seven years of growth, the same age as her grand-daughter! It was a lovely thing for her to do and I was so pleased she loved her new look."

For appointments at Steven Burgin call 01270 624333.