A RAPE victim will be shaving off her long hair to raise money for a sexual abuse help group.

Jill Saward, 39, who was brutally raped at her Ealing Vicarage home in 1986, will be raising much needed funds for Abused People's Help In Sexual Trauma (APHIST) based in Wolverhampton, by shaving off all her hair at their Christmas fair on Friday, December 10.

She said: "They wanted someone to shave their hair to raise money but they couldn't find anyone and I thought I would do it.

"Those who are sexually abused have no real voice at all and I thought it would be important to do it on that basis."

Jill's hair is currently 47 cms long but she hopes the head shave will raise a lot of money for APHIST which currently gets no money through funding or grants.

Bronwyn Maxwell, founder and chair of APHIST, is confident Jill will raise lots of money.

She said: "I know Jill and she is a determined, gutsy lady.

"It's so good of her to do this and to shave the lot off for us is great."

All the money raised by Jill will go towards the running costs of APHIST's self-help group.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Jill can visit

www.saward.org/index.htm and click on the link