A HOSPICE nurse, who is part of a team set to take on a trek in Sri Lanka this autumn, will shave her head during a fundraising evening in aid of the charity she works for.

Lauren James, a nurse at the Marie Curie Cardiff and the Vale Hospice in Penarth, is a quarter of the “Hospice Hikers”, a team of four Marie Curie staff who will take on the five-day challenge.

The trek is one of Marie Curie’s overseas challenges, and will raise funds for the hospice to help provide round-the-clock care and support for people living with a terminal illness, and their families.

The team will be joined by others who have signed up to take on the challenge from November 16 to 25.

To help the team raise the £14,000 minimum funds, Lauren is hosting a cabaret night on June 16, during which she will also shave off her long red hair.

“We decided as a fundraising team a while back that we would like to do something along these lines, and I ended up being the one to take it on,” said Ms James.

“A lot of the girls who have been in contact with me know Lorrainne Castellano, who is one of our day therapy patients, who is part of a burlesque group, so I’ve had quite a lot of support from them.

“We have all local acts taking part during the evening.”

Ms James added that the idea for the head shave was a joke initially, when the team was thinking about fundraising ideas.

“Then I thought seriously about it. I know a friend a while back did it for and raised a fair bit of money.

“My hair is quite a considerable bit longer than hers was, so I thought why not do it? It’s only hair.”

She hopes to gain £1,000 sponsorship from the headshave, with ticket sales, a raffle and sweet sale on the night also raising money.

Speaking about her training for the trek, she said: “I train weekly anyway, I usually run about 18 to 20 miles a week, so I haven’t done much more than that.

“It feels like it’s come around quite fast since we signed up in April last year.”

Tickets for the evening cost between £10 and £12 and are available at www.eventbrite.co.uk or to sponsor visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Lauren-James14.