Shearing sheep for charity is nothing new, but this time it's not the sheep being shorn but the shearer.
Sam Picker, Bigga will auction himself off to be shorn, both beard and hair, at the upcoming National Shearing Championships in Dubbo, where he is competing as the senior NSW representative.
The money raised will go towards Herd for Hope, which supports organ recipients and donors in rural and regional Australia.
Sam said it was other sport shearers who first suggested he shave his hair and beard for charity.
"My girlfriend used to shave my head but she got a bit sick of doing that so I said, well ok I won't get it cut," Sam said.
"Then I got known around the shearing shows for long hair and it was suggested I shear it for charity."
As part of the initiative Sam has also raised money by donating a Poll Merino ram at his family's Merino stud, Hillcreston's on-property sale.
The ram was bought for $1500 by Charlie Chown of Reids Flat.
The founder of Sam's chosen charity, Megan McLoughlin, said Herd of Hope started after they identified that one in three organ transplant participants and one in three donors were regionally based.
"There's little services provided to them in regards to support," Mrs McLoughlin said.
Herd of Hope garnered national attention last year after a cattle drive on Bondi Beach, bringing the country to the city.
"That's what our focus is on, people in the city have it quite good but in the country we don't get to chose who our doctor is, what our treatment plan is and we do a lot of travel," she said.
"We wanted to lessen that burden and unite Australia, we're all in one big paddock, especially when it comes to organ donation. Now with Sam we've jumped over to the other four-legged herd animal, the sheep."
An auction to shear Sam will take place on November 29 at the National Shearing Championship in Dubbo. To donate go to gofundme.com/f/shearing-sam.
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