Goodyear’s credit controller braves the shave for Macmillan

A Goodyear Dunlop UK employee has marked her fifth anniversary of being cancer free by shaving off her hair and raising almost £2000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Linda Clarke, a credit controller at Goodyear Dunlop, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma six years ago at the age of 42 and underwent a year of intensive chemotherapy at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Now, the 48-year-old mother-of-three from Erdington said she wanted to celebrate her landmark fifth year of remission and decided that getting rid of her shoulder-length locks was the ideal way to do it.

And because Macmillan Cancer Support is one of Goodyear’s nominated charities, Clarke was encouraged to do the deed at work, supported by her colleagues. Her family friend Jay Davis of Snizzap Mobile Barbering agreed to go into her offices to shave her head.

“I’ve never done any fundraising on this scale before but I really wanted to give something back to such a special organisation,” she said. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support from family, friends and colleagues and am thrilled to have raised much more than I’d originally hoped to.”

Linda Clarke, who has twin sons Jerome and Jordan, aged 18, and 25-year-old daughter Shanice with husband Lloyd, is to begin training to become a volunteer buddy with Macmillan.

“It does such fantastic work and I really wanted to help out. Having treatment is very trying and tiring so I hope giving back a little bit of joy will help,” she added.

Hans Vrijsen, Goodyear Dunlop’s MD, added: “Linda is always a vibrant member of our team and when she announced she was shaving her head for our corporate charity I was not surprised. She knows how to live and celebrating in the way she has highlights her strength of character. Congratulations to Linda and thanks to her for adding more funds to our fundraising total for Macmillan.”