A YOUNGSTER has raised more than £500 for a local charity by risking a ‘Covid cut’ and shaving his head.

Prior to the lockdown, ten-year-old Oliver Johnson would regularly go to YMCA Barnsley after school.

And when, like many people, his hair started to become unmanageable, Oliver decided to use the opportunity to give something back to the organisation that’s helped him improve his confidence over the last few years.

Oliver set a target of £150 – but his mum Geri said he was ‘chuffed to bits’ at making more than three times his total.

“He’s attended the YMCA quite a few years now,” she said.

“He was quite down with his confidence at first and it’s helped him a hell of a lot. They’ve done really good things for him.”

Geri said the Queen’s Road Academy pupil had been missing school and his friends when a handwritten postcard sent by the YMCA came through the letterbox.

He decided if he was going to shave his head, he might as well ‘try to help people who actually need it’.

Geri said: “He got a real lift from the postcard.

“He’s seen a few people cutting their hair for charity.

“He does like his hair, he likes it to look nice, so he said if he was going to shave it, he might as well try to raise money.

“The YMCA do good work with vulnerable families in the area, and he’s seen that for himself.

“It all came from Oliver. We were really surprised when he said that was what he wanted to do.”

The news has travelled the country, with the family receiving messages from as far as Brighton, and Oliver has been featured in YMCA’s monthly newsletter for his efforts.