A CHILLERTON man has raised a staggering sum of money for charity ­— shaving off his beloved beard after finding out his cousin's baby had a tumour on his spine.

George Hatt was completely taken aback when he set up his Fundraising page and saw £8,500 accumulate in just two days.

He set up a Facebook page, vowing to shave his beard off in exchange for donations to charity CLIC Sargent, which supports children and young people with cancer.

He chose CLIC Sargent as his cousin Russell Hatt and partner Joanna Tosdevin found out last month their five month old baby, Oscar, had a neuroblastoma tumour on his spine into his abdomen.

George said: “Being on the Island, while Russell, Joanna and Oscar were in Southampton for treatment, I know that I can speak on behalf of all the family involved that we all felt so helpless through this shocking experience.

“Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love my beloved beard that I have had for ten years at different lengths.

"I said that if I raised more than £1,500, I would shave my hair off too, so looks like that’s now happening.

"A huge thank you to everyone for their very generous donations to support young cancer patients.

"Russ is more like a brother than a cousin to me so everyone’s support really means a lot.”

Oscar’s mum, Joanna Tosdevin said: “On Near Year’s Day, Russell and I noticed that Oscar’s legs weren’t moving.

"An out of hours GP appointment at St Mary’s resulted in us being rushed to Southampton in the early hours of January 2 for scans.

"It was such a horrible shock finding out that Oscar was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma tumour.

"Emergency surgery took place and Oscar is due to have his third round of chemotherapy next week and his last round is due in March.

"Oscar is doing really well and fortunately not having too many side effects from the chemotherapy. “

“We chose to support CLIC Sargent as they made everything a lot simpler.

"We had a lovely CLIC Sargent social worker called Nicky who checks in regularly with us, providing emotional support and helping with financial grants from the charity and other charities.

"We also got to stay in the charity’s 'home from home' called Jean’s House, which was a great help.

"When we talked with George about him setting up a fundraising page, we thought his idea of raising £1,500 might be pushing it a bit. We were overwhelmed when the page raised £8,500 in two days."

To make a donation, visit https://www.facebook.com/donate/441856210567795/3817996711556350/