A BLACK Country construction worker is getting set to lose his trademark long locks to help raise cash for a cause close to his heart.

Ben Slater, aged 34, fro Halesowen, will be having his brunette mane and beard shaved off in aid of Stourbridge's Mary Stevens Hospice.

He said: "It’s a place that I hold close to my heart, with my nan and my cousin being looked after there before they died, and my dad works as a nurse there.

“Mary Stevens Hospice needs all of the recognition it can get, for awareness and to help raise money towards the £2.5 million it needs every year to keep the place running."

Ben will be losing his locks on Tuesday May 8. Set to reach for the scissors and the razor himself, he said: "I'm dreading it to be honest. It's going to be weird; I'm going to look weird. Everybody knows me as always having had long hair but I'm doing it for a good cause. I just thought it could raise a lot of money."

Ben has already raised around £700 in sponsorship.

Anyone wishing to boost his fundraising efforts further to help Mary Stevens Hospice can make a donation online at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-slater7