Watch as Sunderland fundraisers brave the shave for Washington Mind

Wendy Colling, who works for the Washington branch of mental health charity Mind, shaved off her hair to raise vital funds for the service, at her home on Saturday, April 25.

It came after 11-year-old Jayden Wright contacted the team last week to say he was planning to shave his head to help them during the pandemic.

She was so moved by the schoolboy’s efforts she decided to join him and brave the shave too.

Between them Wendy and Jayden have now raised more than £1,400 for the project to help staff and volunteers provide support for those experiencing mental health issues.

“I was so inspired by brave Jayden, who contacted us to say he understood the impact the current crisis would have on people’s mental health and wanted to help,” said Wendy, 53.

“I decided to see how much we could raise together for our fantastic project.”

Before the coronavirus lockdown measures were introduced, Washington Mind was in the process of fundraising for a community outreach van which would provide mobile mental health support and information at events, clubs and schools around the city.

Wendy continued: “All local Minds are independent charities responsible for their own fundraising and like a lot of charities we will lose a lot of income during the lockdown,” continued Wendy.

“We are aware that the Coronavirus pandemic will have a significant mental health impact on us all and recognise there has never been a better time for us to bring our services to the community.”

Wendy and the team are now inviting others to brave their own head shave - or come forward with a different fundraiser – while the country stays at home in line with government guidance.

She added: “I want to thank everyone for their contribution and support - it means so much to me and all of the staff, volunteers and people who use the services at Washington Mind.”

For more information contact Washington Mind: [email protected] or 0191 417 8043

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.

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

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.