A Broadstairs dad-of-three is going to shave his head to raise money for Macmillan cancer support after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

29-year-old Alistair Baldwin, a self employed business man, noticed a lump on his left testicle around Easter time and his wife, Gemma, pushed him to go to the doctors.

Mr Baldwin said: "The doctors and NHS have worked so quickly and amazingly fast, within ten working days I had had two doctors appointments, consultants meeting, three scans, four blood tests, pre-operation appointment and surgery.

"After surgery I thought it would be the end of it but at the moment my tumor markers are rising by the week.

"This therefore points towards it being elsewhere within my body, so the options were chemo and scans or wait for scans then start so I jumped at the chance to try and be cured."

Mr Baldwin has recently started chemotherapy which will last for 12 weeks.

He said: "Instead of shaving my hair off in vain I thought I should really give something back to those who have helped and need it.

"My reason for turning to Macmillan as the charity that I have chosen is due to lots of people not having support but also the unit I am having my chemo in has been so well supported by them."

As a young married dad of three, Mr Baldwin wants to stress to other males to do regular checks.

He said: "I am 29 and the ripe age for testicular cancer, unfortunately not many know that it can be treated if caught early.

"My point is that if I did nothing about this lump then I could have been ending up with a far worse prognosis.

"Men and boys need to be taught young that it isn't a problem to check things down there.

"I lost my father eight years ago to cancer and I cannot allow this to happen to my children."

Despite having started chemotherapy, Mr Baldwin says he is trying to keep life running as normally as possible.

He said: "I have a family of three young children all dependent upon Gemma and I as we are self employed - I am trying to keep things running as normal.

"The chemotherapy is playing havoc with my mind and memory, but I am doing my best to keep things normal as the children do not need any further upset in their life.

"Trying to keep a regimented schedule is helping of being up whether you feel like it or not."

Mr Baldwin is planning his head shave for Macmillan on Saturday, July 8, dubbing it Alistair's The Giving Back Headshave on his justgiving site.

To donate, head to justgiving.com/fundraising/awkbaldwin