Short work for Josh

Kingsville Primary School pupil Josh Schumann is about to lose his locks – all for a good cause.

The 10-year-old will be going to the front of his grade 5 class on Thursday where teacher Ms Sturrock will hand him over to a hairdresser as part of the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave.

Josh’s mum, Kirraly Schumann, says Josh’s “number one” buzz cut will be the first time he has had such a close shave.

“The main reason he’s doing it is to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation,” she said.

“He said he wanted to do it after seeing someone else do it last year. He has been raising money and we’re very proud of him.”

Ms Schumann said family, friends and the Kingsville school had been very supportive of Josh and his quest to raise $1000.

Blood cancers are the third-biggest cause of cancer death in Australia.

More than 12,000 Australians will develop leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma or a related blood disorder this year.

Now in its 17th year, World’s Greatest Shave raises about half the money the Leukaemia Foundation uses to support families and invest in research to help beat blood cancer.

Since the Greatest Shave started in 1998, shavers have raised about $178 million. For details, go to www.worldsgreatestshave.com.

Benjamin Millar