Story
The Little Princess Trust:
Provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions such as Alopecia; alongside being one of the largest funders of UK childhood cancer research.
The Little Princess Trust relies solely on the generosity of its wonderful supporters who help the charity give Hair and Hope to so many children and young people with cancer each year, with each wig costing around £700 to make.
Elly's Story:
After many years of wanting to donate my hair to the Little Princess Trust (LPT), I am ticking it off the bucket list in my 25th year of life!
LPT is an unbelievably worthy charity with a profoundly beautiful origin story and does incredible work on behalf of young people experiencing hair loss attached to a variety of prognoses. Having never experienced hair loss myself, I cannot speak to the complex and challenging experience this can be, but have always held an unfounded fear of losing my hair due to its close ties to my identity.
Privileged to have had healthy, growing hair since birth, I impulsively decided at the age of 10 years-old to give myself a spontaneous bob haircut (goes without saying, my skills left a lot to be desired). I then went on to grow long locks which I often hid behind - both shadowing my face in my younger years when anxious or shy, and in my older years to hide what I felt were imperfections in my figure, a defence I am admittedly scared to lose.
However, on a more positive note, my hair has given me a wealth of confidence and identity over so many years, being recognised and complemented for my long auburn hair for as long as I can remember and earning me nicknames such as ‘goldilocks’ and ‘rapunzel’. In my younger years I didn’t understand people’s kind comments about my hair having been teased in school for being ginger, but in more recent years I’ve come to adore and miss it as it turns naturally darker with age.
Having had this privileged history with my hair, it feels only right to donate it as I have always hoped to and provide the gift of hair, and the confidence it brought me, to a young person experiencing hair loss.
