LEE Bailey's Manorlands #GeneralWatch Hospice head-shaving fundraiser keeps going from strength to strength, with £2,653 currently raised for the cause.

On Friday night, 35 players participated in their online poker night, which raised another £465 for the pot, with Nick Coward coming out as the overall winner.

Mark Whitford was the man behind the poker night idea and he was grateful to those who participated.

Whitford said: "The poker night went a lot better than I thought it was going to, and we raised a lot more money than we thought we would.

"To get 35 players involved was a magnificent effort, especially when you consider that the prize winners had to donate half of their winnings to our JustGiving page.

"It wasn't all plain sailing and I couldn't have done this without the help of my IT guru Craig Difori, who set everything up from a technical point of view and guided players through the registration process.

"All the players enjoyed themselves and we are hoping to do this again in the near future."

The #GeneralWatch fundraiser has gone from strength to strength, with more people getting involved as time has gone on.

The event organisers' first target was £500, which was hit after less than a day, and further targets of £1,250 and £2,000 were hit quickly.

Whitford added: "When we started the fundraiser on April 16, we didn't really know what to expect and we didn't even know if we would hit our first target of £500.

"The whole community has got behind it and we still have plenty of momentum as we go into our third week."

The fundraiser hits another milestone at 8pm this Thursday, when Bailey is due to shave his hair.

Forty-year-old Bailey, who is currently sporting a blonde Joe Exotic (a character from the Netflix series Tiger King) mullet and handlebar moustache after losing a bet with event organiser David Hall that the fundraiser wouldn't beat the £2,000 barrier, put a video on Facebook on Saturday night thanking his supporters.

Bailey said: "I just want to thank all the poker players who played last night and all our supporters who have supported us so far.

"We have raised a truly amazing amount, so let's keep going and let's get it over £3,000."

To visit the fundraising page, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/crossflattsleebailey