A STUDENT is facing a chillier winter than most, after shaving her head for charity.

Beth Harper, who studies Spanish at York St John University, now wears a hat around the city, after her sister-in-law trimmed her hair, first to a blade four, then down to a blade two, at her home in Southport last Saturday.

She decided to raise money for United World Schools, which supports education in third world countries, but said the idea came around quite quickly.

Beth, who works as a waitress at Masons in Fossgate, said: "It was really spontaneous decision, I just woke up one morning thinking I would shave my hair off.

"I was really excited to do it because I kind of had it planned for two months before. It seemed like a long way off but when the day came I was a bit nervous. I didn't cry though, that's the main thing."

Beth, 19, has raised more than £520 for the charity, which she wants to continue to support after university.

She said: "We're really privileged in the UK with education and some countries just don't have that.

"I want to travel, and I know some Spanish-speaking South American countries have this problem so I want to try and go off and teach there."

So far, Beth said the reaction to her new look had been positive, with some unexpected results.

She said: "The reaction has been better than I expected. Some of my friends said they were really gutted as they were looking forward to taking the Mickey out of me, but they said it looks better than they expected so that's a compliment, in a way. My family were a bit more nervous than me, but really proud.

"Some people have come up to me at uni and said they respected me for it. The support has been amazing. I hoped to raise £300, so I'm really pleased with the total. I just came from a seminar now, and my Spanish tutor asked for the link to donate, I didn't expect that."

To donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/bethsbraveshave