A Dundee student is cutting off 12-inches of her hair to donate to the Little Princess Trust – for the second time.
Heather Harrison, 21, had previously donated hair and fundraised for the children’s charity, and said “it felt like the right thing” to do it again.
The charity makes real hair wigs for children with cancer, using the donated hair.
Heather, a student dental therapist, cut off 15-inches of her hair for the Little Princess Trust four and a half years ago.
She said: “I can’t remember why I started it, but it’s just a really good cause and it felt like the right thing to do.
“For me, I can just grow my hair, and grow it out again. It’s just hair to me.
“But it can mean a lot more to someone else, who may be going through such a hard time in their life. Especially the kids who are going through such a hard, horrible time at such a young point in their lives.
“It just feels like the right thing to do. For a kid being able to have a wig made for them is going to help them so much more in their life than it would help me, even just by bringing a bit more of normality in to their life.”
Fundraising
Heather said that this time around, she will be fundraising for Cancer Research UK, as well as donating the hair.
She said last time she cut her hair “I think I shocked it a bit”, adding “My hair grows quite slow. I remember last time I cut it, I think it grew about an inch in a year.
“I remember every time I would see my friend’s mum she would say ‘Oh your hair hasn’t really grown’, and I was like nope!
“Although then it grew quite a bit after that. It’s probably grown about 15-inches in the past four and a half years.”
However, Heather, originally from the Lake District, said she’s excited to face the chop on July 3.
She said: “I’ve had it long for quite a long time – the whole time I’ve been in Dundee.
“I came up here for university in 2019, so the whole time I’ve been here, it’s been relatively long and it’s got especially long now.
“So I’m quite excited to change it up as none of my friends up here have seen me with short hair.
“I’m a student dental therapist, so in clinic, you have to tie it up off your shoulders, so it will probably be a lot easier for clinic as well. Having to tie it all up is quite a task!”
You can donate to Heather’s fundraiser here.