The words “charity donation” spring to mind ideas of money, toys, clothes or books. But what about the idea of donating a part of you: your hair, for example?
Approximately every two minutes, someone is diagnosed with cancer. It is a known fact that treatments such as chemotherapy result in hair loss, and at this time it is essential that patients are provided with wigs. Wigs can sometimes look synthetic, but a real hair wig is of excellent quality and extremely realistic; these can be vital factors in maintaining patient’s confidence.
Unfortunately, real hair wigs are expensive to make. The Little Princess Trust is a charity that provides real hair wigs for boys and girls in the UK and Ireland (see http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/). They have had the backing of many famous faces to support their work, for example Jessie J donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust when she shaved it for Comic Relief in 2013. But for the charity to run, it needs donations of hair and money from fundraisers.
I decided to cut off nearly all of my hair and donate it to the Little Princess Trust; I went from waist-length to a pixie cut. I then sent my hair to the Little Princess Trust to be made into wigs for other young people. Having short hair and knowing that it’s being used is so liberating and such an amazing feeling – a little scary, of course, but well worth it!
So if you’re looking for a charity to raise money for, go to http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk to find out more about the fantastic work they do. If you’re thinking of cutting your hair anyway, why not donate it? Or, if you want to be sponsored for an event, donating is a great way to go about it. Look through the Gallery for inspiring ideas and to see more people like me who have cut it all off! It’s really easy to do, you just need to cut the hair in one or two plaits and put them in the post (see http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/fundraising/sponsored-hair-cut/). Give it a go!
Imogen Goddard, Bromley High School
