Hair salons are finally reopening across London after lockdown and all that hair you and your children have grown will get the snip. But don’t let it fall on to the salon floor, wasted. Hair of at least 7 inches in length can be donated to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides free real hair wigs to children and young people, up to 24 years, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.
So please, read these tips before you go to the hair salon. You and/or your family may be able to donate hair to another who would be transformed by the gesture.
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FREE SALON HAIRCUT OFFER
Headmasters hair salons are the official salon supporter of the Little Princess Trust. They offer a complimentary hair cut service to people cutting more than 12 inches of hair off to donate to the charity. This free service will resume the week starting the 10th May. So if you’d like a free hair cut when you donate hang in there few weeks longer (and you’ll have even longer hair to donate!).
Already have a favourite salon or aren’t able to get to a Headmasters? No problem, just take the donation cutting guide along with you to your appointment. Check out our guide to BEST HAIR SALONS FOR KIDS IN LONDON.
AFRO HAIR – YES PLEASE
The same guide applies for Afro hair as it does for Caucasian hair – 7 inches is the minimum. For update on Afro hair donations click HERE.
THIS ISN’T JUST A GIRL THING
Boys can – and do – donate their hair. The wigs go to all genders. The charity is called The Little Princess Trust as it was created in memory of the charity founders’ daughter, Hannah Tarplee.
HOW LONG?
Hair donations can be minimum length of 7”/17cm. The charity is in greatest need of hair donations that are 16″ (41cm) or longer and they encourage all of our growers to keep growing until at least 12″ (30cm).
HAIR APPEARANCE & CONDITION
Clean, dry hair, from any gender that’s in great condition (no split ends). It can be any natural colour and straight, wavy or chemically straightened. Hair can have limited amounts of grey content. Find out more and be permanently dyed;* bleached/highlighted hair (*if dye is of a natural colour and overall condition of hair is good).
CUTTING GUIDE
Wash and DRY your hair. Do not use conditioner or styling products. Put your dry hair into a ponytail/secure at both ends with a hair band, and one halfway down. Ask your hairdresser to cut above the top band. Put the cut ponytail/s into a cardboard or heavyweight paper envelope. Include your completed Hair Donation Slip. Click HERE for full details and find out how to send in hair donations.
FUNDRAISE
It costs the charity from £550 to provide a real-hair wig free-of-charge, to wig recipients. They currently supply over 100 wigs every month. The Little Princess Trust needs financial donations as well as hair donations, in order to fund the actual manufacturing of the wigs and wig-fitting service. Every penny that you can raise, really does count. Fundraising info HERE. https://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/fundraising
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Wendy Tarplee-Morris, founder of The Little Princess Trust, said: “We are incredibly grateful to all those people who have patiently grown their hair throughout lockdown and are now looking forward to donate their long locks to us. We know our wigs help to restore the confidence and identity of the young recipients and we can only provide this service thanks to the selfless acts of our brilliant supporters, many of whom also fundraise for us to help pay for the making, fitting and styling of our wigs.”
Little Princess Trust social media: Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube
