Local girl raises over £1000 by donating her hair to the Little Princess Trust

On Tuesday 11, five-year-old Gracie-Mae Payne had her hair cut at Glamz on Rowner Road, Gosport, and donated it to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides thousands of real hair wigs to sick children and young people, aged up to 24 years across the UK and Ireland.

Gracie-Mae, from Gosport, made the decision to cut off her golden locks and donate them to the Little Princess Trust because ‘even poorly little girls need to feel like a princess’.

Not only did the youngster, who attends Rowner Infant School, donate her own hair to be used towards a wig for a sick child, she also managed to raise £1,100 for the charity, helping towards the cost of making them.

Gracie-Mae’s grandmother, Maureen Dunford, said she was ‘so chuffed’ to be able to help young little girls like her, but who weren’t lucky enough to have their own hair.

Gracie-Mae’s plight to donate her hair was supported by family, including mum Charlotte Carpenter, friends and local businesses who provided words of encouragement to the junior, as well as donations made through her just giving page.

‘People that know us and people that don’t, they were all donating, people can see what a great thing it was for a five year old to understand and do,’ Maureen said.

The Trust has committed more than £15 million across almost 80 projects, covering a range of childhood cancers and is striving to improve patient outcomes, by improving their access to new and developing treatments.

Wendy Tarplee-Morris, founder of The Little Princess Trust, said: ‘We are so grateful to Gracie-Mae for her fantastic support of our charity.’

‘Her wonderful hair donation and amazing fundraising will be a huge help for our free wig provision service which, we know, makes such a big difference.’

The Little Princess Trust ask for financial donations as well as hair donations, in order to fund the manufacturing of the wigs and wig-fitting services needed, and with the cost of wigs standing at £550, Gracie-Mae has raised enough money to provide wigs to two children, along with her own hair donation.

‘I’m so proud, we all are,’ added Maureen.

To donate to Gracie-Mae’s fundraiser visit justgiving.com/fundraising/gracieshaircut22 and visit littleprincesses.org.uk.find to find out more about the charity.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, with 70 per cent fewer adverts for less than 20p a day.