MUM Helen McDougall is preparing to have her head shaved in Devizes to raise money for charity after one of her best friends was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Mrs McDougall, 37, is terrified at the prospect of being bald but wants to show support for friend Elizabeth Barton, 33, from Basingstoke who was diagnosed with breast cancer about 18 months ago and has undergone gruelling rounds of chemotherapy which has caused her hair to fall out.

She said: "The prospect of be bald is surprisingly terrifying. This challenge has really brought home to me what a horrible prospect loosing your hair would be and that even still it would be the least of your worries if it was because of chemotherapy."

Mrs McDougall of Park Close, Calne, will undergo the head shave at X&Y Barber shop in Maryport Street, Devizes on August 23 and will then have a henna design put on her scalp at Kijam Hollow in The Shambles.

Kijam Hollow is to donate 10 per cent from all of its profits from Henna tattooing in August to Mrs Mc Dougall's chosen charity Breast Cancer Now.

Mrs McDougall, who enjoys colouring her hair with bright dyes, is a bit worried about losing her locks and her husband Justin has expressed worries that their four-year-old son Isaac might be scared of her new look.

But she is confident he will adapt. She said: "His granddad is bald and when I told him my hair will grow back he asked if Pop's hair would also grow back."

Mrs McDougall and Mrs Barton have been friends since they were children growing up near each other in Sussex. Mrs Barton, who also has a young son, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer about 18 months ago and by then the disease had already spread to other areas of her body.

Mrs McDougall said: "Breast Cancer Now has the motto: 'If we all act now, we believe that by 2050, no one will die from breast cancer' and I really want to be a part of making that hope a reality."

To support her go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Helen-McDougall13