The March Hair - The hairy campaign to get people walking again in West Africa

Fundraising date: March 1st-31st 2018

Legs4Africa, the amputee rehabilitation charity getting West Africa walking again, is excited to announce their latest fundraiser ‘March Hair’. The campaign encourages people to grow their leg hair throughout the whole month of March for sponsorship money.

Women up and down the country are putting down their waxing strips and razors and joining in this fundraiser. The plan is to both kick back at the UK’s conception of female beauty, where silky smooth legs are the standard, whilst raising money for amputees in West Africa who are in desperate need for prosthetic legs.

Jo Burgess, supporter of Legs4Africa came up with the idea whilst learning about the terrible stigma around being an amputee in the countries where Legs4Africa has been providing prosthetics for many years.

“For many, psychological trauma doesn’t end with someone losing a leg. That person will often be rejected by their friends, family and society and treated like a second class citizen which means they find it difficult to make an income.”

Reflecting on the UK’s stigma around women being made to feel ashamed of their hairy legs the idea was born. “The social stigma that women receive for having leg hair is bad in the UK. But the stigma surrounding disability in West Africa can mean the difference of life or death.”

Tom Williams (Founder) from Legs4Africa said “Thanks to our March Hair fundraisers we are hopeful to be able to ship another container to our project in The Gambia and get more people walking and working without any stigma at all.”

For the month of March you can join Jo, become a March Hair and raise vital funds to help send prosthetic legs to those who need it most. Of course men and women who don’t normally keep their legs smooth can join in too by organising a sponsored wax anytime throughout March. For more information and to set up your fundraising page please head to: https://www.legs4africa.org/the-march-hair/