Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Jon Cooper
A tireless Derbyshire councillor who has been undergoing treatment for cancer has raised over £500 for Macmillan Cancer Support at Chesterfield Royal Hospital after he took part in a fundraising head shave.
Staveley Town Councillor and Staveley Matters Group Leader, Cllr Mick Bagshaw, set his sights on the hair-raising challenge to raise hundreds of pounds for the cancer charity after he has spent months in and out of Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
Cllr Bagshaw, of Hollingwood, near Staveley, said: “Macmillan will do whatever it takes to help everyone living with cancer across the UK get the support they need right now and transform cancer care for everyone who will be diagnosed in the future.”
He says he has first-hand experience that the number of people diagnosed with cancer is growing and that every one of them needs the best support to meet their individual needs.
Cllr Bagshaw currently sits as a Staveley Town Councillor for Duckmanton and he is involved in a number of committees and internal groups including the council’s Policy, Finance and Publicity Committee, Leisure and Community Working Party and the Allotment Liaison Panel.
The long-serving councillor previously served as a councillor during the late 1990s until 2022 and he has served as a councillor for Barrow Hill and as Chesterfield Borough Council’s Deputy Mayor between 2010 and 2011 and he was the Staveley Town Council Chairman between 2009 and 2010.
Cllr Bagshaw was re-elected in February, 2024, as a Staveley Town Councillor when he received the majority of votes during a by-election to take the vacant Duckmanton seat as a Staveley Matters Group candidate.
He was diagnosed with cancer last year and he has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy as part of his treatment.
The Staveley Matters Group Leader and well-known councillor says he has contributed towards the community for decades but just before Christmas he was told he had cancer although he continued working even from his hospital bed.
Cllr Bagshaw added that he has been grateful for the support both for himself and his family from the Macmillan nurses and the cancer experts at Sheffield’s Weston Park Cancer Centre hospital.
His cancer treatment has not involved any hair loss so he was able to take on the ‘Brave the Shave’ challenge at his home on Monday, June 1, and raise £511 for Macmillan Cancer Support after he had to postpone the original fundraiser, planned for April 1, due to radiotherapy treatment at the time.
