Ashby Anil says a simple change can help others

The Little Princess Trust is fortunate to receive hair donations from many wonderful people - and every supporter has their own reason for helping us. Here, Ashby Anil - a year 9 student from Cambridgeshire - explains why she decided to grow her hair and donate her long locks to LPT.

"Recently, I have made a huge change and decided to cut off 30 inches of my hair to donate to The Little Princess Trust.

"When I first donated my hair, I realised just how much of a change I can make myself as I sat down in the leather seat at the hairdressers, feeling both swirling emotions of excitement and anticipation as I watched my long neatly braided hair being cut to a total of 30 inches of hair donated altogether.

"However, as big as this physical change was for me, it cannot compare to the emotional impact it took as I looked at my little envelope of hair with the knowledge that by cutting my hair, I’m supporting someone my own age to feel like themselves again with a brand-new wig.

"Losing all your hair at an early age is devastating and I cannot imagine the pain many people go through as they fight their battles and deal with the issues that come along with those battles with one of them being hair loss.

"Knowing that by making this donation, I can help someone else my own age feel like themselves again and this feeling makes every day of growing out my hair absolutely worth it.

"With each hair donation I’ve made so far, I realised that to me, my hair may just be hair. However, to somebody else, it can symbolise how they regained their self-confidence and felt like themselves again.

"If making a simple change like this can help somebody else, I am willing to grow out and donate as much hair as necessary because there is nothing better than knowing that due to a decision you made yourself, someone your age can be celebrating their newfound confidence and comfort."