A MALMESBURY man kissed goodbye to his leg and chest hair as part of a charity challenge.

Graeme Hilditch was waxed in front of 50 friends and family at his home this month in order to raise money for mental health charity, Mind.

Graeme raised a total of £650 from his excruciating challenge which was carried out by Sandra Lee-Clark of Tetbury beauty salon, Cherish Salon.

Graeme has raised £1600 for Mind in the last year.

He will be jumping in the saddle next month when he takes part in a 100-mile cycle challenge in London, the Prudential Ride London 100, where he will be riding in aid of Mind.

Graeme said: “As if training for and taking part in a gruelling 100 mile ride with 25,000 other riders wasn’t hard enough, a few months ago I came up with the ridiculous idea that, as cyclists are often seen with hairless legs, I’d undergo a full leg waxing in front of friends and family on the condition that in return for my pain, they made donations to Mind.”

He explained that he thought he had got away with just having his legs waxed but his friends and family had other ideas and persuaded him to have his chest waxed too.

“It was a lot of fun, when the job was done my friends were not just happy with my legs and said I should do my chest hair as well,” he said.

Graeme, who is a writer and personal trainer, went on to say he was inspired to raise cash for mind after suffering from anxiety due to work pressure last year.

He explained: “Mental health is a bit of taboo subject. You do not want to advertise it because people think you cannot cope. It isn’t really talked about. I knew Mind would be a good charity having experienced anxiety firsthand.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Hilditch if you wish to donate towards Graeme's fundraising for Mind.