Head shave raises over £22,000 for two charities

A FAMILY fundraising effort to thank two charities that have helped accommodate an eight-month-old baby with a rare form of eye cancer has raised well in excess of £22,000 following a sponsored head shave at the weekend.

A big crowd was present to James Manson’s granddad Peter and step granny Sandra go under the razor in the Lights function room at Brae Hotel on Saturday evening. 

Baby James was just three months old when his parents Paula and James Manson, from Brae, noticed a white glow in his left eye. He was diagnosed with retinoblastoma – a cancer that develops in the cells of the eye’s retina – in both eyes and began chemotherapy soon after.

The family have spent around six months in Aberdeen, but once James has undergone a sixth round of chemotherapy in a few weeks’ time they hope to get back to Shetland in early summer.

Sandra described Saturday as an “amazing night”. The totals raised are £15,700 for the Archie Foundation, which has arranged accommodation for the family in Aberdeen, and £7,050 for Friends of the Special Nursery in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s neonatal unit.

• You can donate to the fundraiser at this JustGiving page, and you can learn more about retinoblastoma on the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust website.