Retired teacher Chrissy Leonard-Nelson is having her head shaved to raise money for child burns victims in Uganda.

Ms Leonard-Nelson, 63, was so moved by the plight of youngsters when she did community work in the country she is having her head shaved and will wear a silly wig or hat for at least two hours a day until her hair grows back.

She said: “The two children I am raising money for are both in desperate need of plastic surgery due to being badly burned as infants. Although these operations are cheap by English standards, they are beyond the reach of most Ugandans.”

One of the children is a boy aged eight or nine called Stanley and the other is a girl, called Jessica, of a similar age. The girl’s burns mean she cannot close her eyes properly to sleep.

Ms Leonard-Nelson met Stanley when she was volunteering in Kasese in Uganda, a town about five times the size of Devizes.

She said: “ A lighted candle set fire to the bed he was in. I looked into his eyes and could see the pain and the hurt.”

Ms Leonard-Nelson and Alfonse Mwambale, pastor for the Kasese Central Baptist Church, paid for Stanley to undergo an operation while out there but he will need more.

Ms Leonard-Nelson hopes to raise at least £1,600. She sold her house in Devizes before she went to Uganda and is staying with her sister in Bicester. Her headshave is at Kadiem hair salon, Maryport Street, on Tuesday. To donate contact her on 07936 450637 or christinaleonardnelson @yahoo.co.uk