A MUM has given a whole new meaning to the expression lockdown haircut when she decided on a drastic new look after three decades of having long hair.

Pam Jones from Eldene, smashed her sponsorship target of £250 raising almost double for Nottinghamshire Hospice who provided end of life care for her mum.

As a result the PA let her daughter, Caitlin, help shave her head while friends and family watched over Zoom.

Mother-of-two Pam said: “Because of the pandemic, we’ve had lots of news about how smaller charities aren’t able to raise the funds they need.

“We’ve all heard of hospices but until you need their services you don’t know just how important they are.

“Everybody’s fundraising for the NHS which is absolutely fantastic but it’s those smaller charities which are giving people that care in their home that are missing out unfortunately. So I wanted to raise their profile as well,” she explained.

Last June Pam’s 77 year-old mother, Connie Jones who lived with her husband Meirion in Langar, Nottinghamshire was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer.

She was originally given six to 12 months to live, however suffered a massive bleed while Pam was on holiday in August. Her daughter returned home to learn her mum had just weeks to live.

“It was one Hell of a bombshell,” said Pam. “We were still coming to terms with the original six-12 months diagnosis. We lost her less than two months after we found out she had cancer.”

Pam and other family members travelled to be with their dad and Connie and the hospice provided additional night care so Connie was able to stay at home until the end.

“We just weren’t sleeping, looking after mum through the night,” she said.

“Dad had been spending weeks sleeping in a chair next to mum, he’d lost so much weight and he was running on empty. But this was his wife, what else was he going to do?

“Those last few nights were made so much easier by the hospice and the women who came were wonderful. I dread to think what it would have been like without them.”

Pam raised more than £550 through Facebook fundraising. “I’m just over the moon and supper chuffed,” she said. I think it cost the hospice £80 or £90 a night for the night-time care, so that’s over a week of care for a family who might need it and it’s invaluable,” she said.

Initially Caitlin gave her a 6 mm buzz cut but then a week later Pam decided to go even further.

“It was quite a big deal because I’ve had long hair for over 30 years, so it’s a bit of a security blanket for me,” Pam said.

“It’s liberating having it this short because I don’t have to worry about washing or brushing it. I’m tempted to keep it that way.”