Hair-raising vicar pulls out all the stops for church roof appeal!
Date published: 27 October 2008
VICAR David Penny is sure to turn heads with this hair-raising creation.
He volunteered to have a Christian-themed close hair-shave to kick off the £200,000 fundraising appeal for a new roof at St Matthew’s Church, Chadderton.
The cutting-edge style of hair patterns is usually sported by skateboarders, hip-hop artists and teenagers.
But the Rev Penny put his faith in the hands of junior barber Ben McEvoy (19) from Headhunters salon, Ashton Road, during a charity hair show.
The event made nearly £1,300 for the appeal with Rev Penny’s effort raising more than £400 in sponsorship.
It will take about three weeks for the cross design to grow out and he said: “I wouldn’t have it done every day but, as a one-off, it is very good.
“I was a bit apprehensive at first because I wasn’t quite sure what Ben was going to do. It was a closely guarded secret; I just had to turn up on the night and have it done.
“I am very pleased with the design and the reaction when I went down to school was very positive.”
St Matthew’s celebrated its 150th anniversary last year but the listed building in Chadderton Hall Road needs to be re-roofed. A £200,000 appeal has been launched and the church is applying to English Heritage for a grant.
The hair show was organised by Headhunters manager Sam Matley, who is a member of the parochial church council.
She said: “We did a full show with about 12 models and a lot of different hair styles, then the main event was David.
“I think it is brilliant.
“Ben has done a really good job, he pulled all the stops out.”
