A HAIRY biker with a soft centre has raised more than £1,000 for a Sully-based charity following a close shave with a razor blade.

Paul ‘Mitch’ Minchinton has so far raised £1200.78 for Ty Hafan after having his most distinguishing feature – his hair and beard –shaved completely off after 30 years at The Buck, Holton Road, on Thursday, October 30.

The 55-year-old, usually seen about town with his Harley Davidson 1200 Sportster or Triumph Bonneville motorbikes, had his mum 82-year-old Marion be the first to wield the shaver.

Mitch, of Fryatt Street, said: “Family and friends have been nagging me for years to cut my hair, so I thought if I’m going to do it I want to do it for a good cause. I chose Ty Hafan because I wanted to support a local charity. I’ve been lucky to have lived a healthy life, but there are others who are not so fortunate. Ty Hafan does great work caring for and supporting children with life-limiting conditions and their families, so they can make the most of what time they have left together. It’s their 15th anniversary.

"I dyed my hair pink the week before because it was cancer awareness month and, as an extra incentive, the landlord of the Clive Arms in Penarth pledged £50 for Ty Hafan if I dyed it. I wanted my mum to shave the first strip of hair because she’d complained for years that she couldn’t see my face. She was very nervous and was afraid of cutting me, but she did a great job. She cried cutting my hair and then it was horror as she thought she was going to have her 14-year-old little boy back.”

Wife Wen, 51, and family and friends joined Mitch alongside Gary Ware and Richard ‘Blakey’ Blake who supported the cause and also ended up having their heads shaved.

Mitch and his family raised a glass to his dad Henry John Minchinton who died from cancer, aged 82, but would have celebrated his 85th birthday on the day.

Former Barry Boys pupil, Mitch said: “He hated beards, but he had a mass of curly hair. I only had my beard trimmed whenever I started eating it or whenever I got fed up. I feel cold and bald. I’m having fun with it as people don’t recognise me, but it is growing back by the second. It’s a bit of a culture shock. My crash helmet doesn’t fit any more.

“I would like to thank everyone who supported me and encouraged me to do this - The Buck and its patrons for providing an entertaining evening, raffles prizes and donations, The Castle Hotel for advertising the event and collecting donations on my behalf, Dyeing to Cut hair salon, in Vere Street, for doing a great job of colouring my hair and Max and Jamie of Bagnall’s barbers in Holton Road, Barry, for performing the cuts. Special thanks to The Blue Anchor in East Aberthaw for their kind generosity and support.”

To donate, in Mitch’s name, send donations to Ty Hafan.

Contact them, via www.tyhafan.org