Lose the Locks

Once again, I'm cutting off my hair to raise money for charity, but this time the cause is a lot closer to home, so I've decided to take it a step further.

Around eight years ago, I decided I wanted to cut my hair (at the time past my waist) to a more manageable length. I cut off around 15 inches of hair, and donated it to the Little Princess Trust - an amazing charity that uses donated hair to create wigs for children who have lost their hair, either as a result of cancer treatment or other conditions. Four years ago, my mum's fantastic hairdresser and friend (the only person who has ever cut my hair!) was diagnosed with breast cancer. In honour of her and recognition of everything she was going through, and to do some good, I decided to cut my hair again, and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

This time, it was my mum who was diagnosed with cancer.

After being diagnosed nearly 11 months ago, she has continuously shown herself to be one of the absolute strongest people I know. I'm not going to overwhelm you with platitudes, but I can honestly say that while I have looked up to her my whole life, I've never been so proud and so inspired to be her daughter. So this is my tiny way to give something back, and support a cause close to both of us.

This time around, I have decided that on top of donating my hair to the Little Princess Trust, I'm going to shave off (almost) all of my hair to raise as much money as possible for two charities close to my mum's heart, those being the Stafford Hospital Chemo Ward and Look Good Feel Better. "Having completed 10 months of treatment for breast cancer at the UHNM and County Hospital I would love to be able to thank them for the excellent care I've received by helping provide fans for patients to use in the Chemotherapy unit at the County Hospital Stafford. I'd also like to support the brilliant charity Look Good Feel Better - attending one of their first post covid in-person workshops made a massive difference to me, plus having the chance to spend time with others in my situation."

As I'm going to be cutting off almost all of my hair, I've decided I might as well do something else slightly insane, and I will be dyeing my newly short hair based on people's votes! If you are able to donate, please let me know what colour/pattern I should dye my hair, and any suggestions that raise over £50 will be attempted, within reason. Please feel free to propose your ideas, or support someone else's! I'll keep this page up to date with which colours have been selected, and when they happen!

Thank you so much for reading this, and for helping me support the work done by the Little Princess Trust, UHNM and Look Good Feel Better.