A CANCER survivor and dedicated children’s support worker who pledged to “brave the shave” in memory of her mother has finally lost her locks – with help from a familiar face.

Lyn Hope, a 56-year-old mother-of-two, from Darlington, vowed to fundraise for her own mother who had sadly passed away after receiving a cancer diagnosis in 1999.

Ms Hope trusted her tresses to BBC3’s Rent a Cop star and Sparta Security boss, Francis Jones, who turned his hand to hairdressing for the fundraiser.

Ms Hope said: “I’m overwhelmed – there’s no other way to describe it. There are no other words for how I feel.

“It’s overwhelming how much support there was and how many donations that have been made. There were so many people there and I can’t believe how much has been raised.

“It’s taken me 17 years to do this. I wanted to do something after my mam died on August 14, 1999, so I tried to ‘brave the shave’ as close to that date as possible.”

Colleagues and directors at The Acorns sponsored Ms Hope to take on the challenge inside The Springfield pub, in Darlington, over the weekend.

Ms Hope’s children, Tracey Waters and Paul Hope, had been school friends with self-styled Spartan warrior, Mr Jones, who agreed to help raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The fundraiser has collected around £1,026 worth of sponsorship money so far, with more pledges still being counted.