Bridgnorth butchers' hairy lamb chops raise thousands for hospital charity

Beaman & Sons in Bridgnorth managed to donate £2,000 to the League of Friends of Bridgnorth Hospital after its male members grew their sideburns as part of the Lamb Chop Challenge.

The idea was the brainchild of butcher Roger Scott, who suggested the challenge to colleagues before promoting the charitable initiative and growing out his facial hair.

A £20 fine was given to those opting for an early shave, an option Roger said a couple of participants took.

"One of the lads mentioned about doing something for charity, possibly shaving our heads, but as we couldn't do that due to social distancing measures, I thought we could do the Lamb Chop Challenge," Roger said.

"It made sense as we're butchers and it went really well, it really accelerated at the beginning with a lot of the sponsorship coming in the first couple of weeks.

"Once it started and people could see our facial hair coming through, all our regulars started to donate."

With the lamb chops fully grown, they were judged before butcher Mark Stubbs was dubbed the winner.

Roger added: "All the money's gone to Bridgnorth Hospital which is what we wanted as it's local.

"We did have a little fine of £20 for shaving at any point during the challenge which two lads did.

"It was a good thing for a great cause, we raised a decent amount of money and all the lads had a good time doing it too."

Ellie Beaman, co-owner of the business, said: "We wanted to raise money for the NHS during this Covid-19 outbreak, and it was down to the men of the shop who decided to do the Lamb Chop Challenge.

"Roger came up with the idea and it's been a massive hit, the public have been great in supporting it and helping us raise thousands of pounds."