If you were to say John Stockham is being sponsored to shave his head, you would be half right.

The 61-year-old is having one side of his hair and beard taken off and the other dyed blue.

He has decided to drastically change his appearance to raise money and awareness for his great-great-niece Ezmae Catley.

The 14-month-old girl has epilepsy, dystonia and brain damage. She is fed through a tube in her tummy because she cannot suck or swallow.

Mr Stockham, of Queenborough Road, Halfway, is raising money for a range of equipment, including a wheelchair, that she will need for the rest of her life.

The father-of-one will be sporting his new hair-do for nine days.

He said: “It will be visual and hopefully once people see me perhaps they will help out a bit.

“Who cares what I’m going to look like?

“I’m going to be like it for a few days. She is stuck like that for life.”

Last week, a man who won a giant teddy in a raffle at Minster Working Men’s Club donated it to Ezmae. The anonymous donor read about her in the Sheerness Times Guardian two weeks ago.

Ezmae’s mother, Claire Morrish, 32, of Minster Road, Minster, has nicknamed the toy Betsy Bear.

She said: “It’s got pride of place in my front room. Since we got it, I laid it on the floor and laid Ezmae on it and she enjoyed it.

“It is something for her to interact with.”

Ginger Hair Design, Rose Street, Sheerness, will be cutting and dyeing Mr Stockham’s hair on Wednesday, April 17.

Sponsorship forms are available at the salon, The Beano Cafe, High Street, Sheerness, as well as banks, hair salons and betting shops in the town.