Olivia Steele, an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Weymouth has had her long locks shaved off to a grade two to raise money for the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust - and has already smashed her target!

Olivia had the idea to raise the money for Weldmar because they provided end of life care to both her nan and grandad, her nan at home and her grandad in the hospice.

Sadie Steele, Olivia’s mum, said: “I think this was important to Olivia after seeing her nan and grandad go through treatment, Weldmar were fantastic.

“I am so incredibly proud of Olivia, I think she is just amazing.”

Olivia also donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment and other conditions.

​She originally set a target of £200, but when she woke up the following morning, donations had poured in and have currently exceeded £1000.

Olivia said: “Thank you very much, I definitely wasn’t expecting that much.”

The Wey Valley student received acknowledgement for her accomplishment as she was awarded her schools Community Hero Award as part of end of year celebrations.

Olivia said: “Most of my friends didn’t believe I was doing it until the assembly, people came up to me and said ‘are you the girl that’s going bald for charity.’”

As the summer holidays begin, Olivia also has a birthday to look forward to in August.

The mother and daughter would also like to thank Claire from Weldmar who came along to the event and their family members for their support as well as hairdresser Lauren Vine who was the one to cut Olivia’s hair.

Donations are still open and you can donate to Olivia’s just giving page here: www.justgiving.com/Sadie-Steele