Club President’s Hair-Raising Charitable Effort

When Ryde‑Eastwood Leagues Club President Jim McClymont realised Movember wasn’t quite his strong suit, he turned his attention to another charitable challenge — one he felt far more confident he could pull off.

“Shane Skeen [from AustralianSuper] has a men’s mental health initiative, Movember, that he participates in and I tried to help him out there and it was an epic fail growing a moustache,” says Jim.

“However, I said to him I can grow hair on my head, so after that epic fail I decided that after getting my hair cut last November I’d keep it growing and hopefully raise some money for the World’s Greatest Shave.”

Spurred on by the Club’s Marketing Manager Tracey Russell and Chief Operating Officer Nicole Hendley, Jim has been steadily growing his hair over the past four months.

“I’m 80-years-old now and not since I was a teenager have I grown my hair this long — and with the longer hair I now appreciate the value of bobby pins for girls!” he says.

The World’s Greatest Shave is the flagship fundraising campaign of the Leukaemia Foundation. Previously known as Shave for a Cure, it helps fund the charity’s various health services for blood cancer patients and their families, along with research projects.

Since 1998, the World’s Greatest Shave — which challenges people to shave, cut or colour their hair to support the more than 140,000 Australians living with blood cancer — has raised over $310 million for the Leukemia Foundation.

Jim, who is a survivor of prostate cancer, will be shaving it all off from 6pm tonight in front of members at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club.

“Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club has always been very responsible as far as charities are concerned and this is a really good cause,” says Jim.

ClubsNSW was proud to make a donation to the cause and any member club wishing to donate can do so via the official donation page here.