Ben Goes Bald for Sudden

Ben Townsend contracted COVID-19 last year and at the peak of his illness, he promised to shave his head to raise money for Sudden. He’s a man of his word and this is his story, as shared on his GoFundMe fundraising page.

‘Hi Everyone!  I am shaving my head for the bereavement charity called Sudden!

I had COVID-19 (Coronavirus) a couple months ago and it hit me hard.  I went through the acute stage and it was quite scary.  I then had a form of Post-Viral Syndrome they are calling ‘Long Covid’ which ‘hit me for six’ for 2-3 months after the acute stage, it was like having poison in my veins.  Thankfully I have fully recovered from my illness, but my heart breaks for the people who passed away due to the illness and that they could not say goodbye to their family face to face.

Sudden (https://sudden.org/about-sudden/) is a charitable service for people who have been bereaved by a death that happened suddenly or too-soon in someone’s life.  Their vision is to get people suddenly bereaved ‘the help they need at a time of darkness to move forwards to a brighter day’.   Sudden provide a named case worker (over the phone or in other digital ways) from day one, onwards, for up to ten weeks, helping with emotional support and practical issues, and finding extra support for the suddenly bereaved in their community.

At the peak of my illness I promised to shave my head when I was better!  Well I am a man of my word and I thought it would be fitting to shave all of my hair off to raise monies for Sudden to enable them to do the great work they do.  This will be a lot of hair as I have not had a haircut since I became ill!

I will be ‘going bald’ on Sunday 22nd November so if you could spare some money to donate to this worthy cause then I will really appreciate it.  It will ensure that something positive comes out of a really difficult situation.

Overall the total donations received (offline and online) were £983.67 which is absolutely AMAZING and far above what I was ever expecting! (total as at 14th December, 2020)’

Scroll through the slider below to see the full reveal to “Balds-ville”, as Ben coined it.

You can still donate to Ben’s fundraiser by visiting his GoFundMe page or you can donate £5 now by texting SUDDEN5 to 70085.

If you, or someone you know, has experienced sudden bereavement, Sudden can help. Call us on 0800 2600 400 or contact us at help@sudden.org and we’ll arrange for a dedicated caseworker to call you back. We help from day one, onwards, for the first ten weeks of bereavement, when people are often in extreme need of care and support, suffering from shock and huge change in their lives.

Sudden is reliant on donations. We are a charity-run service. If you’d like to contribute to our crucial work, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, then please donate to Sudden. Sudden is run and hosted by Brake, the road safety charity.