A GROUP of five have raised £30,000 for charirty by braving the shave at the newly-renovated Courthouse hotel.

Spectators packed into the Toft Road building last night, Thursday, to see entrepreneur and wealth manager Paul Hogarth shave off his silver locks.

He landed on The Courthouse as a venue after discussing the idea with friend Peter Heywood of Flat Cap Hotels, who was also roped into braving the shave along with Manchester Road Medical Centre doctor Patrick Kearns, David Hesketh and Mike Rogan.

Paul, CEO of Tatton Asset Management PLC, said: “I had a target of £20,000 and a week before the shave we had almost achieved that.

“On the night we had an auction, and charged £10 a head on the door.

“It was actually a colleague at work who asked to me to do it – I thought he was asking for sponsorship for his efforts but he had bigger ideas.

“His daughter had lost a friend to cancer, and we felt we wanted to do something. He has raised a fair chunk as well. I agreed to do the headshave and it has gone from there.

“Losing my hair is not the best of things, but it’s a small price to pay to raise £30,000 for two great causes.”

Paul will be splitting the money between the Teenage Cancer Trust and Destination Florida, a Manchester- based charity taking terminally ill children to Florida for a trip of a lifetime.

The Courthouse opened its doors earlier this year, having been closed for seven years after court services moved to Crewe.

Dominic Heywood, co-founder of Flat Cap Hotels, said: “We are amazed by the generosity of everyone that attended last night.

“It was a pleasure to host the evening at The Courthouse and to see the local Cheshire community coming together to support Paul, the charities and also our new venture.”

justgiving.com/teams/paulhogarth