It was a spur of the moment decision.

Colchester Arts Centre director Anthony Roberts determined at the beginning of the Covid lockdown in March 2020 to go unshaven until the centre reopened its doors.

Little did he – or any of us – realise how long that would be.

Mr Roberts, however, stayed true to his word and so his beard grew and grew.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Mr Roberts asked for beard-growing sponsors and has raised more than £1,600 for the arts centre.

Now, more than 16 months on and with nightclubs and performing arts centres allowed to open again, it is time to get rid of the facial hair in a ceremonial shave.

His eight inch long beard will get the chop on August 21 when Mr Roberts will be clean shaven for the first time in 521 days.

“We’re going to have the grand beard shaving on stage,” he said.

“There will be a cabaret comedy sketch featuring the Crunchy Frog Comedy Troupe, who will be wielding the scissors.”

And although Mr Roberts did not much enjoy the beard at first, he admits it has grown on him (in more ways than one).

“I spent about a year hating the whole thing and thinking 'What a ridiculous thing to do, I look really old, I can’t wait for it to finish',” he said.

“It’s made me look about 107-years-old – when I visit my mum, who’s 96 and in a care home, I have been mistaken for her husband.

“But in the last month, I’ve started to quite like it and now I think I’ve changed my mind.”

The months of facial hair have seen Mr Roberts take on a number of caricatures.

He explained: “The Uncle Albert months were tough,” in reference to the Only Fools and Horses character.

“It's not a good look but if you persevere through it you get to the stage of ZZ Top and Gandalf, which is the stage I’m at now.

“That’s a much better place to be."

Fundraising via facial hair is not the only project Mr Roberts has embarked upon since March last year; he has also started a poetry project which involves reading and broadcasting daily poetry readings to the general public via email and social media.

“The poetry project started off spontaneously, a bit like the beard,” Mr Roberts said.

“I thought 'I’ll read a poem every day from the start of lockdown' then it just mushroomed.”

“I never really thought it through but then, a lot of things hadn’t been thought through at the start of lockdown. I didn’t know if the arts centre was going to stay open for a start.”

Mr Roberts even came up with the novel idea of emulating the Dial-a-Disc music service which was popular in the 1960s and 70s but instead of providing a pop song, he would provide a poetry reading over the phone.

“My idea was basically to create a Dial-a-Poem service, so people would call me up and I could read out a daily poem,” he said/

“I found that the poem was nice, but more than anything else it was a real conversation starter – because people would tell you about why they liked the poem, which turned into a wider conversation about poetry on social media.

“Today, when I recited and emailed the daily poem, I had about 15 people responding to it.

“Fifteen people doesn’t sound like a lot of people, but over the course of a week, that’s over 100 people.”

The daily poetry readings have taken place more than 500 times,

Colchester Arts Centre will be open throughout the afternoon from 1pm to 5pm, with teas being served as well as an open bar.

The centre has also undergone a refurbishment during lockdown and now has new murals and sanitary facilities.

The ceremonial beard shaving will take place at 2pm.

 

A pre-lockdown vow by Colchester Arts Centre director Anthony Roberts to go unshaven until the facility reopened its doors has risen in excess £1,500, with a ceremony taking place on Saturday August 21 when the beard is shaved off after 15 months.

At the beginning of the first lockdown, Mr Roberts decided to raise money for the Arts Centre having initially assumed it would be only a matter of weeks before it would be allowed to open again.

But as lockdown continued and restrictions remained in place throughout 2020 and much of 2021, Mr Roberts’s commitment to going unshaven saw his beard grow and grow.

Now, with his beard growing over eight inches long, and raising a total of £1,675 and counting, Mr Roberts will at last be clean shaven for the first time in 521 days when his beard will be shaved off at Colchester Arts Centre a week on Saturday.

“We’re going to have the grand beard shaving on stage,” Mr Roberts said.

“There will be a cabaret comedy sketch featuring the Crunchy Frog Comedy Troupe, who will be wielding the scissors.”

And although Mr Roberts did not much enjoy the beard at first, he admits it has grown on him.

“I spent about a year hating the whole thing and thinking “what a ridiculous thing to do, I look really old, I can’t wait for it to finish”,” he said.

“It’s made me look about 107 years old – when I visit my mum, who’s 96 and in a care home, I have been mistaken for her husband!”

“But in the last month, I’ve started to quite like it and now I think I’ve changed my mind!”

The months of facial hair have seen Mr Roberts take on a number of caricatures.

He explained: “The Uncle Albert months were tough,” he said in reference to the Only Fools and Horses character.

“It not a good look – but if you persevere through it you get to the stage of ZZ Top and Gandalf, which is the stage I’m at now.

“That’s a much better place to be,” he admits.

Fundraising via facial hair is not the only project Mr Roberts has embarked upon since March last year; he has also started a poetry project, which involves reading and broadcasting daily poetry readings to the general public via email and social media.

“The poetry project started off spontaneously, a bit like the beard,” Mr Roberts said.

“I thought, “I’ll read a poem every day from the start of lockdown” – then it just mushroomed.”

“I never really thought it through, but then, a lot of things hadn’t been thought through at the start of lockdown – I didn’t know if the Arts Centre was going to stay open for a start.”

Mr Roberts even came up with the novel idea of emulating the “Dial-a-Disc” music service which was popular in the 60s and 70s – but instead of providing a pop song, he would provide a poetry reading over the phone.

“My idea was basically to create a “Dial-a-Poem” service, so people would call me up and I could read out a daily poem,” he says.

“I found that the poem was nice, but more than anything else it was a real conversation starter – because people would tell you about why they liked the poem, which turned into a wider conversation about poetry on social media.

“Today, when I recited and emailed the daily poem, I had about 15 people responding to it.

“Fifteen people doesn’t sound like a lot of people, but over the course of a week, that’s over 100 people.”

The daily poetry readings have taken recited now over 500 times,

Colchester Arts Centre will be open throughout the afternoon from 1pm to 5pm, with teas being served as well as an open bar.

The centre has also undergone a refurbishment, and now has new murals and sanitary facilities.

The ceremonial beard shaving will take place at 2pm.