A St John Ambulance worker waxed off his leg hair in the hope of boosting his fundraising before tackling the London Marathon on Sunday. 

Steve Hampson, St John Ambulance's Events Manager in the East of England, works in the charity's Chelmsford office, and will be taking on the race in aid of the charity. 

Steve, 51, is running the marathon for St John Ambulance and is raising money for the nation's leading first aid charity, undertaking a variety of different tasks in the process.

These have included a quiz, a golf day and two hand car wash days, all of which have brought in much needed funds for the charity.

Earlier this week he submitted himself to what is probably the most painful of these fundraising events - a full leg wax.

Over the course of 20 minutes of agony, Steve raised over £300 which is enough to train 90 school children in essential first aid skills and give out 500 mini first aid guides.

Steve said: 'It was a truly painful experience and I have heard many jokes from colleagues about being able to run just that little bit faster now.

"Joking aside, there is a serious message behind all these fundraising events which is that we need to continue to raise money to ensure that St John Ambulance's volunteers around the country are equipped to teach people life saving skills and deliver first aid at events and in the community.

"If anyone would like to sponsor me in the next couple of days and help me hit my target of £2,000 I'd be incredibly grateful."

Steve's fundraising page can be found online at www.virginmoneygiving.com/stephenhampson