A FATHER-of-three who “hasn’t touched” his facial hair for nearly six months is set to brave the shave to raise money for the charity which supported his dad during his battle with leukaemia.

Colchester Royal Grammar School alumni Rob Lodge has been growing his beard since September, two months after his father John died.

He has agreed to finally face the chop, but only once £10,000 has been raised for Bloodwise, the country’s biggest blood cancer research charity.

Rob, 40, said: “I have always had facial hair and my family are not especially keen on it.

“It started as a bit of a joke at first. My sister asked how much it would cost to get me to shave it off and it escalated to £10,000.

“From September it hasn’t been touched. It has got to the point where I am walking down the street and people are looking at me strangely which is not what I was doing this for.

“Bloodwise have done such an amazing job for us and to be able to raise money for them is what it is about.”

John, from Brightlingsea, first visited the doctor with a persistent cough at the start of 2018.

He was shocked to be told he was suffering from leukaemia and given the bombshell news he had just a few weeks to live.

Despite a positive early response as part of a trial, John died on July 3, aged 69.

Despite his death John’s wife Maria, daughter Katie, oldest son James and Rob were incredibly grateful for care he received, which they knew wouldn’t have been possible without Bloodwise.

Rob said: “You often think leukaemia and think of kids but it happens to people of all ages. It is a tough thing to go through whatever age you are.

“Bloodwise were so supportive for us and still are.”

So far, the family have managed to raise roughly £7,000 towards their £10,000 target, but have launched a GoFundMe page hoping to collect the rest.

Rob, Susie, and children Delila, one, Matilda, four, and Jacob, six, said: “We first started raising money on JustGiving and there was quite a large cash injection made by Lloyds Bank as one of their charity choices.”

To donate towards the fundraising campaign, go to bit.ly/2uvG5lx.