Beauticians at a department store are preparing to tear a strip off some of their male colleagues.
Staff at the Debenhams store at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre, in Wrexham, are raising funds for the BBC’s Children in Need Appeal.
A trio of men who work there are going through the pain barrier to raise a mountain of cash by being sponsored to have their legs waxed.
The intrepid threesome, Blaire Howard, Matt Jones and Aaron Bennett, had no hesitation in putting their names forward to have their legs waxed as it’s for such a good cause.
The big day for the waxing and all the other fund-raising activities at Debenhams will be Saturday, August 4, when Pudsey Bear will also be in attendance.
Aaron, 26, who works as a loss prevention officer, says this isn’t the first time he has agreed to being waxed.
He said: “I had my chest waxed last year during another in-store charity fund-raiser and I’ve never known pain like it! In fact I didn’t actually volunteer for this leg wax in truth, it seems someone volunteered me!
“However, it such a good cause so I really don’t mind. As a store all the staff want to raise as much for Children in Need as we can. Everyone is getting right behind the fundraising which is brilliant.”
And Blaire Howard, 23, has previous experience of charity fund-raising too having run a marathon to raise funds for Leukaemia Research.
He said: “The problem with the marathon was I didn’t really prepare properly and in fact only ran six miles in training.
“Not ideal really and it’s no wonder it took me more than six hours to complete the 26 plus miles! Having my legs waxed will be a doddle in comparison.
“Children in need is a great cause and I had no hesitation whatsoever in putting my name forward. We want to be the top Debenhams store when it comes to fund-raising if we possibly can.”
Men’s wear Sales Advisor Matt Jones, 22, says he has his own reasons for agreeing to have his legs waxed for charity.
He said: “I want to get more in touch with my feminine side! I don’t think my fiancé would be too happy though if she heard me say that! Seriously, I just thinks it a great cause and we want to raise as much money as we can.”
Beautician Faye Byrne, who works for Arch Angels, who have a franchise within Debenhams’ Eagle Meadow store, says she is looking forward to getting to work on waxing the legs of the three male members of staff.
She said: “To be fair they are very brave and definitely good sports. Of course we will enjoy doing the waxing but the main thing is we raise as much as possible for Children in Need.”
Debenhams Sales Manager Faye Brown says staff of the Eagles Meadow store have been set a target to raise £1,000 in a month but everyone’s hoping to raise at least double that figure.
She said: “Every Debenhams store is fund-raising for Children in Need this year and here at Eagles Meadow we are, yet again, hoping to come out as the top fundraising store in the region.
“We have lots going on including a staff race night social event, we have been loaned a Ford car which we will be filling with balloons and inviting our customers to guess how many balloons are in the vehicle and our Visual Display Team have produced a giant Pudsey which we will be using in a ball throwing competition.
“And there are lots of other fun things going on for staff and customers to enjoy.
“In the past our customers here at Eagles Meadow have been very supportive of our fund-raising efforts and we are sure this year will be no different.”
