BARTENDER Henry Waldren sacrificed his blonde locks to the cause of the Leukaemia Foundation this morning at the launch of The World’s Greatest Shave outside his workplace, King O’Malley’s.

World’s Greatest Shave events take place at various venues around Canberra this week and over the weekend, while King O’Malley’s will host two flagship events on Friday and Sunday.

The public shave and colouring event at the Irish pub on Friday between 5.30 and 7pm is billed as “Canberra’s biggest”, and Mr Barclay said it usually raised about $100,000.

“The girls are the ones who raise the most because it’s a big sacrifice for them,” he said, explaining the idea behind the fundraiser is to show solidarity with people who lose their hair through chemotherapy.

The longstanding supporter of the charity event was joined at the official launch by members of the ACT Fire Brigade, who looked on but were not about to jump in the chair for buzz-cuts of their own.

“Ridicule is a lot harder than running into burning buildings,” said station officer Bernhard Evans.

The second event at King O’Malley’s is part of the pub’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations on Sunday, and aims to colour the hair of 1000 people, which is another way of raising money in the event for those who can’t bear to lose their hair.

The World’s Greatest Shave raises about half the money the Leukaemia Foundation needs, according to its website. The Foundation provides support to people with blood cancer and invests millions of dollars in research.

The event has raised more than $138 million over the last 14 years.

For more information including locations of World’s Greatest Shave events around Canberra and how to register, go to worldsgreatestshave.com.