Ashley Stewart issued his friends a challenge – pledge £1,000 and it wouldn’t only be his moustache hitting the floor of the barber’s shop, but the rest of his hair as well.

Not only that, but he would undergo the shave at midnight on Halloween, thanks to Bridport hairdressers Uppercuts.

They agreed to open at the witching hour especially for the charity fundraiser.

Ashley, from West Compton, was motivated to raise money for prostate cancer research after seeing the devastation the disease caused his good friend Andrew Rolfe.

Ashley said: “I’ve known Andrew for about 30 years. He was born in Dorset, but moved to Australia in the mid-60s with his brother, and now late mother.

“I last saw him in 2008, when he came over to England to stay with me for a few months.

“Since returning to Oz, he got married, got diagnosed with prostate cancer, got through the treatment, got divorced, lost his job, lost his house, and now lives near Hobart, at someone else’s benevolence.

“He sent me a picture recently, saying he feels much better.”

Ashley said he found that hard to believe, judging by the before and after photographs taken of Andrew.

Ashley added: “We got on like a house on fire when I met him in Australia and then found he came from this neck of the woods.

“I thought I would be pushed to get a grand in 10 days but the response has been phenomenal.”

Ashley, who turns his hand to plumbing and furniture design, when he is not raising money for charity, has already received firm pledges totalling £1,115.

Sadly for Ashley, the unseasonably warm weather is a distant memory.

He said: “I have been warmer, especially as it is raining.

“Nobody has given me any woolly hats but I’ve had to dig out a few that I’ve fought the moths for.”

“I want to thank everybody for their support and with thanks to Uppercuts in Bridport for being mad enough to abandon their Halloween night, to turn me into possibly less of a freak.

“It means a lot, and not just to me.”

He added: “Thanks to Luke Woods photography for recording the event, but most of all to all those who have stumped up to help give Prostate Cancer the finger!”

n Anyone who wishes to make a further donation to the cause can do so by going to Ashley’s step-sister’s website, at rossmartin.co.uk

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