Friday 9 January 2015

The Little Princess Trust!


I mentioned in this post last week that I've been trying my best to keep my hair in good condition whilst it grows out again, and I thought now might be a good time to do a post explaining why I decided to cut my hair off in the first place!
When I was about 13 years old, I discovered a charity - and I can't remember what it was called - that accepted donations of hair to be turned into wigs for people who had lost their hair due to illnesses such as cancer, but the one flaw was that they were insistent that the hair had to be free of any chemicals like hair dye or perms etc. At the time, I had highlighted hair and I was gutted that I couldn't donate it, as it was something that really interested me! 
It always stuck in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to do but at the end of the day, I didn't have the patience to wait for my hair to grow out long enough to be able to cut it off without dying it, as I was determined to be a blonde for a very long time.
Earlier last summer, I was reading an article online about a young girl who had decided to cut off her hair for charity and after being so inspired by it, I couldn't help but go out and hunt down a charity that would accept my hair - no matter what the colour!
In the end, I found The Little Princess Trust and decided that I would give myself a week to raise as much money as I could before cutting my hair off - but I didn't want to wait too long and chicken out!


In order to be eligible to donate your hair, it must fall within these guidelines:
- Clean, dry hair in good condition from males and females, and of any natural colour
- Straight, wavy, curly, permed or chemically straightened (in good condition)
- Containing the odd grey (less than 10%)
- Dyed, bleached/highlighted (any dyes must be of a natural colour)
- Layered (shortest layer must be at least 7”/17cm)
- Plaits/ponytails, cut a long time ago, preserved in good condition
After my hair was cut, we measured the lengths of the plaits that were cut off (there's actually a 2 minute long video of the actual cutting ceremony on my mum's Facebook, but I can't figure out a way to get that embedded on here!) to be roughly 11", which means the actual hair must've been longer as hair seems shorter when it's braided. My hair is so thick that we were able to cut off two plaits that were about normal thickness of a whole head of hair - hopefully to be made into two wigs! (That's a picture of me and the lovely lady who cut off my hair, before she'd shaped it etc!)

I was fortunate enough to have an amazing group of friends and family who wanted to support me with my decision to cut off my hair, and also with helping out such a brilliant charity, so in the end I managed to raise £500 directly for The Little Princess Trust through my justgiving page! 
According to their website, The Little Princess Trust have an agreement with their manufacturers that any wigs made from hair that is donated will be made free of charge, but they still need to buy more to keep up with demand, which usually costs around £300 each. This means that not only did I manage to donate 2 wigs from my own hair, but I allowed them to buy another as well!
I learnt so much about myself by deciding to do this, as it shows that I have spent far too much of my life hiding behind my long hair as a security blanket, and that hair is certainly not the most important thing in life! However, I know that it took me 17 years to come to this conclusion, and that the little boys and girls who will receive these wigs should not have to be making realisations like this until they are much older - especially if they are ill. To think that providing someone with hair may have brought upon them a little bit of confidence, a smile or even a bit of strength that someone out there is thinking about them really warms my heart and makes me so, so glad that I decided to do it. 

24 comments

  1. My sister did that not so long ago, she raised around £300. She's eight and it was her idea, bless her.

    aymielouise.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Wow, that's amazing! My little sister (age 9) decided to do it as well but she didn't raise any money because it was a spontaneous decision - so proud of her for doing it! x

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  2. You've definitely inspired me to do something like this (one day) but my hair has to be in better condition. Well done, what you did was for a great cause and you should feel so proud of yourself for doing it xxx

    http://izzyk1998.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I think once you get inspired to do it, it always lurks in the back of your mind until one day you take the plunge to do it :) thank you! x

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  3. How lovely are you and so inspiring too! You look lovely with the shorter hair as well! I think you should be so proud of yourself. x x

    www.beyondthevelvet.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! At the time, everyone said they loved my shorter hair but even now, I'm not so sure! I'm still getting used to it 6 months down the line haha x

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  4. This is absolutely amazing , is it carrie fletcher thats doing this as well ? i don't know but it is amazing that you've done such an amazing thing for such a great cause. *hugs*
    - Jenny

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    1. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she is once she leaves Les Mis! Thank you :) x

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  5. What a lovely and selfless thing for you to do! Short hair really suits you!
    Sam xx
    knockoutcouture.blogspot.co.uk

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  6. What a lovely thing to do, my 11 year old sister done this, she donated 12 inches and managed to raise nearly £1000 i would love to do it but because i dye my hair alot it's in such bad condition :(!
    But Well Done such an inspiration!

    Just Another Girl xxx

    http://heyjustanothergirlonline.blogspot.com.au/

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    1. I have so much admiration for people who do it when they're younger - I definitely did not have the confidence at the time! Well done to your sister, she did so well to raise that much money :) x

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  7. I appreciate a lot people that do something like this! It's amazing what you've done! Anyway, you look so cool with short hair! Have a nice day!
    http://alexandrasparadise.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you lovely, that's so sweet of you! x

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  8. wow weldone to you for doing such a fantastic thing ,

    http://beautyandtheprince.weebly.com/body-and-skin-care/lulu-boo-frankincense-regenerating-serum

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    1. Thank you, I'm really glad I did it :) x

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  9. This is absolutely lovely :) Such a fantastic thing to do! You should be so proud of yourself babe :) x

    Lucie xx
    Fatbeautyx | Plus Size Fashion & Beauty Blogger & Vlogger



    Don't forget to join StyleLifeBeauty on their Facebook Group & Twitter helping to grow your followers and bring together Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle bloggers.

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    1. Thank you, the more I think about it, the more proud of myself I become! It's strange what an attachment we have to our hair x

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  10. You are an amazing person. The way you wrote and explained this was simply heartwarming, and I aspire to have such courage and nobility.

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    1. Thank you :) Trust me, if I can do it then anyone can! x

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  11. That's so nice of you to do and very inspiring too.

    Loveheartdoodles.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. I'm still thinking about doing this because its a great cause. I just dont want to tell everyone I'm gonna do it and then get cold feet. Did you have any regret about doing it? And do you think they'd take thin hair too? xxx

    http://izzyk1998.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I was really worried about getting cold feet but if anything, telling people is what stops you from doing that because you can't really back out once you've told all your friends/family and posted it all over social media!! I'm sure thin hair would be fine, as long as it's long enough :) I think if I had just cut my hair off then I would have a lot of regrets about doing that but because I did it for such an amazing cause, it's a really good way to cheer me up if ever I'm feeling down about not being able to do something with my hair etc! x

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