A NEWLY, nearly-almost hairless fundraiser certainly went the extra mile for Children in Need.

Hatch Warren resident Alex Thompson originally set out to raise £500 for the cause by having his head shaved.

But things soon escalated.

The 40-year-old said: "I spoke to colleagues at work about it and they said 'is that all you are doing?' I thought OK, I'll do my beard then as well but then someone said I would look really strange with eyebrows and so they had to go and then it came to shaving my legs, which I said I'd do for £1,500

"It just escalated really!

"I came home to talk to my wife who thought I was just having my head shaved and that was it. But she then said if I did raise £1,500, it would be cheating to shave my legs, I'd have to have them waxed. All of a sudden, I was signed up to all of this!"

So, on Friday, Alex went under the razor and the wax strips at his work at Thatcham Research, in Thatcham.

Alex added: "I came in feeling quite warm, but left feeling rather cold!"

But it didn't stop there as he was eventually invited to a live Children in Need BBC1 fundraising show in Southampton, where his wife Cindy tore a wax strip off of his leg in front of their daughters Amy, nine, and Chloe, six.

Alex's fundraising total has now rocketed past £2,500.

He said: "I couldn't be happier, I never thought I would get that amount.

"For just a temporary bit of looking a bit weird and going through a bit of pain, it is helping other people and changing lives. I can cope with that.

"I am coming to terms with having no hair on my legs though!"

To donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/alex-thompson26.