Jeremy Bouwmeester, or “Jezza” as he is known, hasn’t had a proper haircut in 10 ten years.
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Instead, every few months, the Bendigo man has been at the hairdresser getting his beloved dreadlocks painstakingly maintained.
In the nine years and almost nine months he’s had them, they’ve grown to one metre in length, after being crafted by a hairdresser in Eaglehawk.
But come March, all that will change.
“A part of me will be missing,” he said.
Jezza is bidding farewell to the iconic dreads he’s had for almost 10 years, and raising money for multiple sclerosis in the process.
“One of my good friends her mum has MS,” he said.
“But about a month before Christmas, she found out she had cancer.”
It was this that inspired Jezza to host a fundraiser in support of the Bendigo family, but not for cancer.
“There’s a lot of people that already donate towards cancer,” he said.
“But there’s no cure for MS.”
So on Saturday, March 24, the LL Installations worker will say goodbye to his “luscious locks” at Pratty’s Patch in Maiden Gully, and raise money for MS Research Australia at the same time.
He said the family was excited for the fundraiser, as they knew how much his dreadlocks meant to him, and were hopeful their mum would make the night.
Jezza has already started a GoFundMe page for the fundraiser, which raised $1500 in the first night it went online.
A silent auction and raffle will also be held on the night of Jezza’s big chop, with the call out for any businesses who are willing to donate goods or services.
“Every little bit counts,” he said.
To donate to Jezza’s fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/farewell-to-my-dreads-for-ms.
Anyone or business interested in donating goods or services to the Pratty’s Patch event can contact Jezza on jezza_fox@hotmail.com