North Londoner Noch Spitzer was proud of his flowing locks. But in a case of “hair today, gone tomorrow”, the 31-year-old raised more than £10,000 for Camp Simcha by submitting to a radical haircut, in which 20 inches were lopped off his mane.

He wanted to honour the memory of Marc Lebe, who lost his battle with Duchenne muscular dystrophy last year at the age of 21. Mr Spitzer, who had been Marc’s Camp Simcha “big brother”, had already raised £14,000 from a Yosemite trek. “Camp Simcha brought such love and light into Marc’s life,” he said.

Mr Spitzer has had long hair “for the best part of 12 years. My wife and children don’t know me any other way. In fact, my five-year-old daughter Marley, who also has long, curly hair, was very upset when she heard what I was doing.

“People have been bullying me to cut my hair for a long time but I have to admit that this was probably the only way I was going to do it. Even my wife’s grandmother, who is 104, has sponsored me — she said she never liked it long!”

The hair he had cut off will be made into a wig for a child who has lost hair as a result of illness.

Camp Simcha chief executive Neville Goldschneider thanked Mr Spitzer “for sacrificing his hair for such an important cause, which he has seen up close in the many years he volunteered for us”.