Aoibhe donates 17 inches of hair to The Little Princess Trust charity

Aoibhe McGowan, a primary five pupil from St Paul’s Primary School, decided last summer that she wanted to donate her hair to help other children.

The generous girl has also raised a huge amount of money for the charity which creates the wigs.

The Little Princess Trust creates real hair wigs for children and young people with cancer, who have lost their hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.

The charity was set up in 2006 and in the last few years has started to fund pioneering, life-saving research into childhood cancers.

Aoibhe’s mum Gillian said the family are extremely proud of her.

“She mentioned last year that she wanted to cut her hair and donate it to charity. I let her grow it a bit longer and by the time she got it cut it was well down her back.

“Aoibhe had always had her hair quite long and with the lockdowns over the past year it had got so long. She did love her long hair, but in the end it was quite difficult to work with and she got so warm.”

Aoibhe had her hair cut earlier this month.

“In total, she donated 17 inches of hair,” Gillian explained. “After she got it cut she couldn’t get over how much lighter it felt and how much healthier it looked, she was swishing her hair about!

“Aoibhe is really buzzing with it all and loves her new haircut. We are so extremely proud of her. She is just so good, a really kind wee girl and is always thinking of others.”

Aoibhe has also raised over £800 for the charity, to contribute to the cost of creating a real hair wig.

“It costs £550 for the charity to make a wig, so she has raised well over that. She said she wanted to donate her hair and raise money to help another child happy and feel confident.

“She knows how much it will mean to those children and she just wants to put a smile on another child’s face.”

Gillian said that Aoibhe has already talked about growing her hair and donating it again in the future.

“She has said she might do it again in future, she probably could if she wanted to.”

The Little Princess Trust accept donations of hair over seven inches, but their greatest need is for hair donations that are 16 inches or longer.

To find out more visit https://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/donate-hair and to donate to Aoibhe’s fundraiser go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gillian-gale2