Student raises £1,500 by shaving hair off so it can be turned into wigs for sick kids

Elisha Newell has raised £1,500 for The Little Princes Trust - which makes wigs for youngsters who have lost their hair – by having more than two feet of her hair snipped off.

The 21–year–old, who has had long hair all of her life, wanted to help children who were unable to have a full head of hair themselves.

Elisha from Whiteleas, South Shields, said: “It’s something I’d thought about doing for the last two years. I’ve always had long hair and I’ve been able to grow it really quickly and easily.

“But some children aren’t so lucky, or they’ve lost their hair through cancer treatments.

“So I thought if I donated all my hair to the Trust and raised some cash as well, I’d hopefully be able to help a fair few of them.”

She added: “I didn’t want to get just a few inches trimmed, I wanted the whole lot to come off as I tend not to do things by halves.”

Elisha had her hair trimmed by staff at Headquarters hair salon in Simonside, South Shields, on Saturday.

For the past few weeks the business has also helped Elisha collect sponsorships.

Elisha, who is studying to be a maths teacher at Newcastle University, said: “The hairdressers have all been amazing, they even closed the shop on the afternoon and had cups of tea and wine there too.

“They also cut my hair for free and have been helping me collect sponsorships.

“I wasn’t worried about getting it chopped off, I was quite excited, I think everyone else was crying though.

“My hair was put into eight plaits before it was cut and afterwards we weighed it and it was 208g, there was a fair bit of hair.

“It was quite a week. I turned 21 on the Tuesday, I had a princes party on the Friday night and then got a whole new look on the Saturday.”

Elisha is now getting used to her new look and admits it is a bit ‘breezy’.

However, she has no regrets.

She said: “Everyone is saying it suites me and they’ve been really positive.

“It is a bit breezy and I have a few hats if it gets too chilly.

“It’s quite a novelty as I’ve had loads of hair ever since I was born, so this is the first time it’s been so short, but I like it, I might keep it like this for a while, it’s a lot more manageable now”

Elisha added: “I’d just like to thank everyone who has donated and supported me, it’s been brilliant.”