Vice-Captain of School (Service)

Nelson Hegge

Vice-Captain of School (Service)

Braving the shave

On Wednesday 23 March, Scotch College hosted our annual World’s Greatest Shave event. It was hugely successful, despite the restrictions we had to work around.

The shave supports people suffering from Leukaemia, a disease also known as blood cancer. Shaving shows solidarity with those who lose their hair due to the chemotherapy they must endure to stand a chance against this deadly disease.

As well as promoting the fundraiser through assemblies and emails to the Scotch community, the Presbyterian Ladies’ College Service Captain, Indah Jenkins, and I made a video explaining the event and cause. To explain the cause, Indah and I spoke to Year 12 students Harry Clark and Elijsha Blackburn, who have both fought and won battles against Leukaemia. The stories they shared about their experiences and their insights about life with this disease were striking and emotional and gave meaning to this event and cause.

Harry explained how his “whole life was flipped upside down” through the disease. He spoke about how “support was everything”, and he wouldn’t have made it through this experience without the people around him.

Middle School students after the World’s Greatest Shave

Elijsha shared how the “World’s Greatest Shave helps fund parents being able to be near their kids in hospital”. Harry reminded us of the research the Leukaemia Foundation supports and how “20 years ago, there’s no way you would’ve survived cancer”.

The day of the event was an enormous success. The Middle School’s shave was first and took place on their quad before school, with many students volunteering to say goodbye to their hair for this great cause. A massive thank you must also go to Mitch Williams in Year 8, who raised more than $6,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation, making him the highest fundraiser out of the entire school.

Next was the Junior School, where classes took turns to have their hair coloured with an assortment of different shades and patterns. The colours looked amazing, and all the boys were very pleased with their hair. Some Year 5 students also raised money towards the Head of Junior School, Mrs Maria Hodges, having her hair coloured, which showed great initiative by these boys.

In the afternoon, the Senior School boys had their heads shaved in House groups, which was a huge success, and all of the buzz cuts looked phenomenal. There was a great atmosphere around the event, and everyone was excited to shave their heads for this great cause.

In total, we had 170 students shaving their heads on top of all the junior students who had their hair coloured. We raised over $90,000, a record for Scotch and an exceptional amount that will make a huge impact on those suffering from the disease.