LEDBURY professional chef Suzie Isaacs has had a close shave experience.

She's just had all the hair cut off her head by (her partner/ hairdresser) to help raise well over £2,500 for NHS Charities Together.

Suzie is Head Chef at Ledbury's centuries-old Feathers Hotel, which is part of the Coaching Inn Group, which operates 16 other hotels and inns in market towns across the country.

She joined eleven other group colleagues in a collective head shave via video messaging app Zoom, because everyone is currently on home furlough due to the coronavirus epidemic.

"To look a bit silly for a few weeks is an insignificant price to pay, in order to help out the NHS in some small way during these times," she said.

Suzie started in the kitchen at the Ledbury hotel fresh out of school over 20 years ago, trained and gained her chef qualifications while working and has been there ever since.

"The Feathers is a very special place where I love the people and it's like being part of one big family.

"Some of the staff have been here longer than me, so I have absolutely no desire to go anywhere else," she said.

After she and general manager Will Silver were furloughed because of lockdown they gathered up all the hotel's foodstuffs, biscuits and soft drinks, which would reach their sell-by dates by the end of June, and donated them all to the local food bank.

Coaching Inn Group chief executive Kevin Charity said group colleagues were doing their utmost to make a positive difference by supporting NHS charities and other good causes during these troubling times.

Readers can still contribute to the head shave fund by visiting justgiving.com/fundraising/teamwhr

The Feather's Hotel is hoping to reopen its doors on Saturday, July 4, adhering to government guidance.