Warwick schoolgirl donates 16 inches of hair to charity

Kacey-Mae Betteridge, who lives on Queen Square, decided she wanted to have her long locks cut off and that she would donate her hair to the Little Princess Trust.

The seven-year-old, who attends All Saints Junior School, had only had her hair cut once in her life, which was when she was one-year-old, and since has only had small trims.

Kacey-Mae had been talking about getting her hair cut for the past few months and finally decided she wanted to do it after learning about the Little Princess Trust.

The trust is a charity that provides wigs made of real hair to children that have lost their own hair through cancer or other illnesses.

The seven-year-old and her mother, Joanne Betteridge, set a Just Giving fundraising page last month and within 10 hours of going online, they had reached their target of £200.

Last week Kacey-Mae had her hair cut at her home by hairdresser Lisa Straughton.

Kacey-Mae said: “I am very happy that I had my hair cut and I love my new hair. I cannot wait to send the hair off.”

Originally Kacey-Mae and her family thought that she would be having 19 inches of her hair cut but because of needing to have her hair in a plait to donate the hair to the Little Princess Trust, Kacey-Mae had 16 inches of hair cut.

In the week’s leading up to her daughter’s hair cut, Mrs Betteridge, was anticipating tears when the event happened.

She said: “Every time we talked about the chop I welled up and Kacey-Mae would turn to me and say ‘it’s fine Mummy, my hair will grow back, the poorly children might not get that chance’.

“On the day of the cut I was emotional and I did have a few tears. After seven years of growth and feeling extremely proud of Kacey-Mae my emotions took over a little bit.

“She loves her new hair cut and my husband and I have joked about her not being allowed to have her hair cut for another seven years now.”

So far through her JustGiving page and sponsorship forms, the seven-year-old has managed to raise £600.

Mrs Betteridge said: “My husband and I are very proud of Kacey-Mae. She set her heart on helping others and that is exactly what she has done and raising that much is amazing as she only thought she would raise two hundred pounds.”

“Kacey-Mae and I would like to thank everyone that has sponsored her, shared all the information on social media and gave support.

“It was a huge thing for Kacey-Mae to do and the support she received from friends, family and even people we did not know was amazing.”

Kacey-Mae will be posting her plait to the charity on Monday and will be keeping her JustGiving page open until Saturday November 5.