BEAUTY counter staff will join the Help Hannah Face the Future Appeal by staging a marathon makeover.

The event, from 9am to 7pm next Thursday, has been organised by staff at the Debenham's store in Middlesbrough's Hill Street Centre.

It was devised by Carol Nish, of the Clinique department, after a colleague met Allison Maxwell-Jones, whose daughter, Hannah, has a facial disfigurement, at a conference in London.

Mrs Jones, of Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, was asked to speak from a mother's perspective at the International Birth Mark Conference.

After learning the family needed £20,000 to help pay for trips to Arkansas, where an American doctor could improve the two-year-old's looks, staff at the store decided to make a contribution.

Makeovers will be performed in the exhibition area, beside Woolworths, on February 1, at a cost of £2. There will also be a raffle, with the proceeds going towards the appeal.

While a campaign by The Northern Echo has already secured more than its £20,000 target, Mrs Maxwell-Jones has expressed a wish that any left over money be used to help other children.

She said: "I think the makeover is a very clever way of showing the other side of the coin to disfigurement, and making people aware of the importance they place on appearance."