A BRAVE Cirencester woman has paid a personal tribute to her loved ones who died of cancer – by shaving her head.

Jillian Duarte, who works for the Westcon Group in Love Lane, went for the chop on Friday to raise money for Cancer Research and awareness of the disease, which affects one in three people.

The 36-year-old said goodbye to her shoulder length hair at Reds Hairdressers in Chesterton.

"My god mother died of breast cancer and a friend of mine also died of cancer and I wanted to do something to raise money that meant something to me," she said.

"Jumping out of an airplane is fun for some people but I wanted to show my solidarity to the people affected by losing my hair."

She came up with the idea in her hometown in South Africa where a radio station was asking people to volunteer to have their heads shaved.

‘I was terrified because I couldn’t imagine not having hair and I am not used to being the centre of attention," she said.

Her supportive colleagues greeted Jillian with a round of applause when she returned to work.

She said: "I feel like I have accomplished something and it is not like it won’t grow back."

Her efforts have so far raised over £500 and she is hoping more sponsorship money will boost the total.

To donate to Jillians cause visit www.donatetobreastcancer.org/jillianduarte