A STOCKPORT magistrate and former headteacher is tackling the Great Manchester Run dressed as his superhero alter ego 'Scissorman'.
Tim Wheeler, 61, from Davenport, is the former head of Stockport Grammar. He will take on the run with a giant pair of scissors on his back, as part of a series of four charity races to raise awareness for the Little Princess Trust.
He will don the specially designed outfit for the charity, which specialises in providing wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.
Tim, who's been chair of the trust since 2011, said: "I was headteacher at Hereford Cathedral Junior School, where the Little Princess Trust first started in memory of one of its pupils, Hannah Tarplee, who was diagnosed with cancer.
"Hannah's experience of losing her hair was extremely difficult and her parents noticed there was a need for real hair wigs for children like her.
"After Hannah tragically passed away her parents founded the charity which has now helped thousands of children."
During an assembly at school, Tim had the light bulb moment which led to the birth of Scissorman.
He said: "I was doing assemblies on resilience and challenge for the children, and I decided it would be a brilliant idea to challenge myself to run the London Marathon dressed up.
"I asked all of the children to come up with some ideas, and so Scissorman was born."
Explaining the work of the charity, Tim said: "Finding a real hair wig which is the right fit for a child can be difficult and, unfortunately, the budget for NHS funded wigs is very small.
"The charity not only provides high-quality real hair wigs to help children with the emotional impact of cancer but will also arrange for the wig to be professionally styled.
"We take in 4,000-6,000 hair donations a month which we then pass on to our wig weavers, either in the UK or overseas, and they produce the wigs which we can then give to families that need them.
"The scissors represent that side of the charity's work. They're a great conversation starter and hopefully help to encourage other people to have their hair cut and donate it to the charity.
"We're particularly in need of long hair donations at the moment and that's a message I really want to get across this year."
The Greater Manchester Run will be Tim's 15th appearance as Scissorman and is part of a sequence of runs starting with the Cardiff half marathon and then moving on to the Edinburgh Marathon and The Great North Run.
To donate to Scissorman's mission visit:
A STOCKPORT magistrate and former headteacher is tackling the Great Manchester Run dressed as his superhero alter ego 'Scissorman'.
Tim Wheeler, 61, from Davenport, is the former head of Stockport Grammar. He will take on the run with a giant pair of scissors on his back, as part of a series of four charity races to raise awareness for the Little Princess Trust.
He will don the specially designed outfit for the charity, which specialises in providing wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.
Tim, who's been chair of the trust since 2011, said: "I was headteacher at Hereford Cathedral Junior School, where the Little Princess Trust first started in memory of one of its pupils, Hannah Tarplee, who was diagnosed with cancer.
"Hannah's experience of losing her hair was extremely difficult and her parents noticed there was a need for real hair wigs for children like her.
"After Hannah tragically passed away her parents founded the charity which has now helped thousands of children."
During an assembly at school, Tim had the light bulb moment which led to the birth of Scissorman.
He said: "I was doing assemblies on resilience and challenge for the children, and I decided it would be a brilliant idea to challenge myself to run the London Marathon dressed up.
"I asked all of the children to come up with some ideas, and so Scissorman was born."
Explaining the work of the charity, Tim said: "Finding a real hair wig which is the right fit for a child can be difficult and, unfortunately, the budget for NHS funded wigs is very small.
"The charity not only provides high-quality real hair wigs to help children with the emotional impact of cancer but will also arrange for the wig to be professionally styled.
"We take in 4,000-6,000 hair donations a month which we then pass on to our wig weavers, either in the UK or overseas, and they produce the wigs which we can then give to families that need them.
"The scissors represent that side of the charity's work. They're a great conversation starter and hopefully help to encourage other people to have their hair cut and donate it to the charity.
"We're particularly in need of long hair donations at the moment and that's a message I really want to get across this year."
The Greater Manchester Run will be Tim's 15th appearance as Scissorman and is part of a sequence of runs starting with the Cardiff half marathon and then moving on to the Edinburgh Marathon and The Great North Run.
To donate to Scissorman's mission visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tim-wheeler5