Getting caught up in the moment led bartender Kamla Battersbee to shaving her head but it was all for a good cause with her spontaneous action raising more than $1,400 for children with cancer.

Ms Battersbee cut off her locks - along with a handful of insurance underwriters - in a bid, last Friday, to raise money for local cancer charity, PALS. To top it off, the group underwent the razor treatment in public; at the Robin Hood pub.

Ms Battersbee, who works at the Robin Hood, decided then and there that she would also shave her head.

Event organiser Stephen Fallon, of IPC Re, said the idea came from some friends in the US who have, in the last two years, shaved their heads as a way of raising funds to go to help children with cancer. The fundraiser typically takes place the Friday before St. Patrick's day and has been dubbed St. Baldrick's Day.

The fundraiser is intended as a way of doing more than raising funds, it is also a way of showing solidarity with children with cancer who may lose their hair during chemotherapy treatment.

The monies raised - the total amount has not been tabulated, but Mr. Fallon said rough estimates show it could be in the region of $100,000 - will go in to a newly-created PALS endowment fund for the research and care of children with cancer in Bermuda.

In addition to pledges secured from individuals, the participant's employers are to match the monies raised.