A VICAR’s wife is cycling 360km across Myanmar to raise money for a children’s charity, adorned with a new purple Mohican haircut.

Bithja Jones, from Caversham, promised to swap her normal blonde crop for a purple Mohican if she met her first fund-raising target of £3000 by mid-July. The money was raised; so her hair was restyled last week.

Mrs Jones, whose husband, the Revd Nigel Jones is Vicar of St Andrew’s, is raising money for a charity, HopeAsia, which is based in the town. It supports children in Cambodia, China, and Myanmar.

A keen cyclist, Mrs Jones will set off on the sponsored cycle-ride in October, along with 20 others. En route, in Myannar’s capital, Yangon, she will visit one of the children’s homes supported by the charity.

She said: “I had a purple Mohican 20 years ago, when I was an art student, and I had a very different reaction then; this time, people are really positive about it. My children think I look really cool. The people at church have been really lovely, and seeing my hair is a reminder for people that I’m raising money.

“And I might have found a good reason to keep this haircut.”

A trained artist, Mrs Jones features bicycles in her work. “Bikes turn up everywhere in my life,” she said. She is also giving a fund-raising talk this weekend on unusual bikes to raise more money for the charity.

To donate, visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/bithjajones. Each donor will receive an original lino print made by Mrs Jones.