A young woman from Chickerell feels “overwhelmed” after raising over £1,000 for charity through a sponsored hair cut.
Kayleigh Clarke, 21, works as a teaching assistant at Chickerell Primary School and decided to donate ten inches of her hair to the Little Princess Trust.
The charity uses donated hair to make wigs for girls who have lost their hair during cancer treatment or due to other conditions such as alopecia. It also donates funds to childhood cancer research in the U.K.
Kayleigh said: “It was an impulsive decision really. I wanted to have my hair cut for a while as it was getting long, and I saw the Little Princess Charity. I thought instead of my hair going in the bin I could put it to good use.”
She added how being surrounded by children in her job inspired her to donate to a cause which could have a meaningful impact on a young girl’s life.
“Working with children and seeing how their confidence has grown definitely was a great influence. Knowing a little girl is going to get my hair who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions such as Alopecia means a lot.
“I help kids daily with their education and if I can also help a young girl feel more confident with their appearance then that will also be great.”
Kayleigh launched also launched a fundraiser for the Little Princess Trust on Sunday, February 25 with an initial target of £300. To her surprise and excitement, she managed to hit £500 overnight thanks to the support from friends, family, fellow staff, and parents at the school.
The total now stands at £1,115 with Kayleigh completing the charity chop on Thursday, March 7.
“It has been very overwhelming. It’s just amazing how much money we’ve managed to raise I am so grateful and lucky to have such supportive family, friends and to receive such great support from the Chickerell community and school. It’s all so overwhelming.”
“I’d definitely recommend the Little Princess Trust to anyone who wants to grow out their hair. It’s such a good thing to do to give a little girl her confidence back and feel, in an aspect, normal to what their life was like before the illness. It’s all been so heart-warming.”
You can still donate to Kayleigh's fundraiser on the Justgiving website: https://www.justgiving.com/page/kayleigh-clarke-1708896297810
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