As regular readers will know, last Sunday (2nd January), Paul Armfield was scheduled to have his very long beard and locks shaved off in aid of the Bhopal Medical Appeal.
Paul’s target was £2,000 which would cover the salary of one doctor for a year to work with those affected by the aftermath of the Union Carbide chemical spill.
However, Colin Toogood from the Appeal told VB yesterday that Paul had raised over £3,000 to date and donations were still being accepted through Paul’s Just Giving page.
The Sunday shave-off
Having been to the Bargeman’s Rest many times before, we’d never seen it as packed as it was on Sunday night.
In fact, it was so busy that at the end of the night, the landlord donated £200 of their takings to the fundraising event.
The evening kicked off with a variety of bands performing live for the captive audience, most of them featuring Paul on double bass.
15 minutes of fame (as if he wasn’t famous enough already)
Half way through the evening, Paul moved to the front of the performance area and whilst the fantastic Wight Harmony Barbershop Choir sang their hearts out behind him, the delightful Debbie got to work on Paul’s beard and very long locks.
The whole process only took about 15 minutes to complete, with short breaks every three or four minutes to thank the singers. If you missed it, VB has captured it all on video for you to enjoy at a later date (hopefully soon).
Once Paul had had time to take it all in and even grab a glance of himself in the mirror in the lavs, we cornered him for a chat about the experience.
There was a spring in his step, a definite glint in his eyes and we even got to see him smiling.
Listen to the podcast to hear how Paul really felt after the chop.
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/paul-armfield-bhopal-beardpal.mp3]
There is still time to donate via Paul’s Just Giving page and you can find out more about the Bhopal Medical Appeal by visiting their very informative Website.
