By Gabrielle Swan
A NEWTOWNARDS girl danced for joy after donating 16 inches of her long locks to the Little Princess Trust for the second time in her young life.
Raising £1,133 -with more to come- was Model Primary School pupil, Emily Aicken.
Last Tuesday’s hefty trim at L.M Hairdressing was not the only time the eight-year-old donated her locks to the charity, nor was it the only time she was involved in charity work.
In 2021, the generous Newtownards girl had 12 inches of hair donated to the charity, along with £400.
Emily also encouraged her family to take part in a number of charitable challenges, such as a 100k walk in April 2021 for the British Heart Foundation.
This summer, young Emily has returned to her fundraising efforts, raising money and donating her hair once again to the Little Princess Trust.
The Little Princess Trust is an organisation dedicated to crafting real hair wigs for children and young people who may have lost their hair due to cancer treatment, or from illnesses resulting in hair loss, such as alopecia.
Donations of hair measuring at 12-inches or more are ideal for the charity as the average cost to make a wig is £700.
So far, the local girl has raised £1,133 in total, with £305 of those funds coming from a collection drive held by the family at the Hardford Link EuroSpar in town.
“Emily was talking about wanting to get her hair cut again and we were saying ‘no, your hair is too nice to waste,” said Emily’s father, William.
“We are planning to keep the JustGiving open until the end of July,” added the Newtownards father.
Doing the honours last Tuesday was L.M Hairdressing stylist, Leigh Dickson, who commended Emily’s bravery.
“We had plenty of little girls in getting their hair cut for the charity. It’s really lovely, especially with the age of some of them,” said Leigh.
“I cut it for free and I also styled her hair afterwards. This little girl twice now has taken it upon herself to get this done, which is very brave too,” she said.
Speaking after the trim was Emily’s mother, Lauren Brown, who described her daughter ‘dancing for joy’ after the cut.
“She was really excited. We set up the fundraising page in April and she was very happy to raise some money for them and make some wigs.
“All day she was talking about getting this hair chopped off. Sitting in the chair, she was all smiles and was dancing around me afterwards,” added Lauren.
