FUNDRAISING haircut veteran Gloria Bird has enlisted her granddaughters as she prepares for her latest dramatic chop.
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Ms Bird, from Portland, will be losing her locks during a charity event this weekend at Panthers Bathurst to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
"This will be the third time I've cut my hair off," she said.
"The first two times, I did it for leukaemia.
"But, I don't know, I started watching a series on TV and then I heard a few things on the news about people being rescued by the Royal Flying Doctors and I thought that would be a good charity to do it for this time.
"And I talked my little darlings [granddaughters Leah and Carmen Islip, who live in Bathurst] into cutting theirs off."
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Ms Bird was in her 60s for her two previous charity haircuts and will be nearly 74 when she sits down for this one.
As was the case previously, she will be donating the hair itself to the Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation, which makes wigs for those who have the auto-immune disease.
"When they [the foundation] got my hair the last time, they sent me a letter back saying 'thank you for the grey hair'," she said.
"Apparently, they don't get a lot of grey hair."
While Ms Bird will be losing all her locks - after she invites people at the event to cut each of her pigtails off - Leah, 10, will be getting hers cut below her ears (enough to make a wig) and Carmen, 12, will be getting a pixie cut.
"Carmen's been wanting to cut her hair fairly short for a couple of years," Ms Bird said.
"I said 'just keep going until Grandma's grows again and then we'll all get it all cut off'."
As for the fundraising night itself, it will be held this Saturday, October 21 from 6.30pm at Panthers Bathurst.
As well as the hair-cutting, Ms Bird said there will be bingo and a raffle.
"Anybody can come," she said of the event. "The more, the merrier. Because I'm a mad bugger, they'll all like me."