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A couple of weeks back the idea to take part in Shave or Dye 2012 was brought up here at Lucidity. As soon as the idea was voiced, heads began to disappear behind monitors. Before I continue, credit has to be handed to Luke Kelly who was persistent in the go ahead of the whole idea. Like any good campaigner he didn’t let up and his relentless hounding paid off when five heads, including his own, were offered up. They were Luke, Guy, Jim and Philip (Dye) and Shai (Shave).

The original concept, conjured up over a lunch time coffee, was to dye our heads Lucidity Blue. What better way to support the Irish Cancer Society on the eve of a Leinster game then colouring our mops with the company colours? What was an initial throwaway comment soon snowballed. Once we all agreed, there was no turning back and as weeks end approached, so too did the nervous faces.

Guy contacted the Beacon Barber across the way in the Beacon and explained our plans. Baz, our resident barber was immensely helpful and obliging, taking us in at less than a day’s notice. The whole thing was organised at a cost of precisely nothing. All we had to do was show up at a time they allocated for us and the fun would begin. Luke set up a donation page via mycharity.ie (where we are still taking donations) and from then on, we just spread the word.

Having kick started its cause back in 2010, Today FM’s now hugely popular Shave or Dye campaign gains national notoriety this time every year.  The campaign raises much-needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society every year. It’s simple yet effective method of pulling in much needed cash saw it raise €1,317,000 in 2011.

So, having forewarned all relative people in our lives, we all arrived on Friday morning clad with scarves, hats and beanies, only to have them all confiscated by our fearless leader Luke. We had put our heads where our mouths were, so to speak, and we would see it through.

We arrived at the Beacon Barber at precisely 11 am rather sheepishly. Baz described the procedure and we wasted no time in getting started. It was Jim who seemed the least phased by the day’s events, but perhaps for obvious reasons.

We climbed into our chairs and our levels of enthusiasm may have had you guessing we had watched the demon barber of Fleet Street the previous night. The following hours played out to the tune of laughter, heckling and general craic down in the Barbers and just under four hours later this was the outcome: 

To date we have amassed €815 and I think I speak for everyone when I say; we’d do it again tomorrow if we knew we’d raise half that amount.  The overall campaign is on a healthier figure of €318,588.15. We had a great day partaking in the fundraiser and all involved are due massive congratulations. Not just the ones who were shaved or dyed but those who donated so generously, family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. To Today FM who ran the campaign again and to Baz, Jill and the whole crew who entertained us for those couple of hours in the Beacon Barber.

Here is just a snippet of the mornings events, this is a panoramic recording of the fun compressed into a 57 second time lapse video using the GoPano attachment.

The Blue heads can still be seen dotted around the office with one token shave thanks to Shai who contributed to the cause on the day. We will be taking any donations right up to the end of the campaign which falls at the end of April. We live in hope that the cuts we are sporting will long have left us by then. Well done again to all.

To have a look at our entire Shave or Dye album just click here and remeber, any donation at all helps, so please sponsor us here.