Schoolboy who grew his hair for 3 years to make children's wig raises £300 for Little Princess Trust

Joshua Anger, nine, saw a television advert three years ago about children with cancer, which made him feel sad that children lost their hair during treatment and some were never given the all-clear.

Joshua, from Southwick, decided that he wanted to do something and started to grow his hair so he could donate it to the Little Princess Trust so he could help another child feel better.

The charity provides free real hair wigs to children and young people with hair loss, and funds vital research into childhood cancers, relying solely on the efforts of enthusiastic community fundraisers.

Joshua was also inspired by rock band Biffy Clyro’s frontman Simon Neil, who also made the decision to donate his long locks to a charity to make wigs in 2018.

Jim Anger, proud dad to the Wickham CE Primary School pupil, said: ‘He’s had a fair amount of teasing about it - people would mistake him for a girl but he just brushed it off because he knew he was doing it for a good cause.’

Donors are encouraged to grow their hair to more than a foot before it is cut off to be made into a wig, so Joshua braved the haircut on Friday at Sage Hair Design in Wickham after his hair had reached 12 inches, supported by Jim and Lizzie, Joshua’s mum.

Despite an original fundraising target of £100, Joshua’s friends and family have shown a huge amount of support for his efforts by donating £360 so far.

Jim, who said Joshua is still getting used to his new look, added: ‘We think it’s amazing, at first I thought he was winding us up but he stuck to it for three years. We’re immensely proud.

‘Money is tight for a lot of people, to be over £350 is brilliant.’

Joshua’s donation page is still open if anyone would like to add to the current fundraising total at justgiving.com/fundraising/elizabeth-anger3