A BOLD Greenock shop boss proved she is a cut above after raising almost £4,000 for charity by having her hair shaved off.

Home Bargains manager Joanne Hainey took part in the hair-raising feat in aid of the Beatson Cancer Charity — inspired by staff at the Waterfront Retail Park who have been affected by cancer.

Over the last year a number of her fellow workers have either had the disease or lost loved ones because of it.

In a show of support to her hard-working team, boss Joanne decided to organise a sponsored head shave and shed her beloved locks to generate some money for the Beatson.

Former assistant manager in Greenock, Josephine Devine, did the honours in front of a large crowd of family, friends and shoppers.

To date a terrific £3,900 has been raised and Joanne, 35, is delighted.

She told the Tele: “I’m over the moon with how much has been raised. I never thought for a second I would get to that amount.

“I got the initial target of £1,000 so quickly and thought ‘I’m going for £2,000, why not?’.

“But never in a month of Sundays did I think I would get £3,900 for the Beatson.

“I’ve had customers come in that I don’t know handing in money.

“Thanks to everyone for their generosity and to my team for being right behind me.”

The Greenock store manager says she could never have done it without the encouragement and backing of her staff and customers after a nervy few hours leading up to the head shave.

She said: “On the morning of it I was all over the place to be honest, one minute I was laughing then I was crying. But when I went out to get it done I was fine.

“It was really good and we had a great turnout on the day from customers and all my staff.

“Everyone kept saying they are so proud of me and I’m so brave but I hate saying that because I’m not brave.

“There were a lot of tears from staff on the day and a couple of ones who had cancer were there too — it was emotional.

“Everyone was right behind me.”

Joanne has quickly grown fond of her new look although she admits she can’t shake off some old habits.

She said: “At first I kept thinking I had to brush my hair or fix it — daft things like that.

“But now I’m used to it and it’s fine.

“People say I suit it so I suppose I’m quite lucky.”