Milestone moment demonstrates our commitment to improving lives

This month marks 10 years since The Little Princess Trust began funding childhood cancer research.

In the past decade, we have invested more than £39 million to help create a brighter future for children and young people with cancer.

We founded our charity in 2005 in memory of five-year-old Hannah Tarplee. When Hannah lost her hair during treatment, she was devastated.

Her family and friends saw a need for real-hair wigs for young people facing hair loss and established The Little Princess Trust.

By 2016, we were providing hundreds of wigs a year – and Hannah’s story had inspired countless fundraisers. So much so that we could broaden our mission to fund childhood cancer research.

Our aims were clear: to provide Hair and Hope. By funding childhood cancer research, we wanted to create a future where children like Hannah could have access to safe and effective treatments, so that cancer won’t mean toxic medicines and side effects like hair loss.

From our first project of £25,000 to this year’s £3.5 million investment in a childhood cancer research professor, it has been an incredible journey so far – none of which would have been possible without your support.

Just like any good journey, our work has a beginning, a middle and, we hope, one day an end: a future where children no longer face the devastating impact of cancer.

How it began

Our first research project, one of eight funded in 2016, was led by Dr Anestis Tsakiridis. He wanted to understand how childhood brain tumours develop and find ways to support future brain tumour research.

Unexpectedly, techniques developed during the project showed promise for tackling another childhood cancer, called neuroblastoma.

Today, much of Anestis’ work focuses on neuroblastoma, thanks to the results from that project. He sees the funding as a “turning point” in his career, inspiring new avenues of research.

“I will always be grateful to The Little Princess Trust for believing in my research at such an early stage of my career,” said Anestis.

“That initial investment has helped generate new discoveries, and build collaborations that continue to advance our understanding of childhood cancer.”

The middle and the milestones

Since 2016, we have funded 177 projects and invested more than £39 million in children and young people's cancer research.

As a UK funder of childhood cancer research, we are making a big impact. CCLG, the Children and Young People’s Cancer Association, produced a report that looked at UK childhood cancer research funding between 2020 and 2025.

In that time, The Little Princess Trust funded 105 research projects – more than 20% of all projects identified in the report.

Our commitment to changing the future for young people with cancer goes beyond individual research projects.

That’s why, over the past year, we have invested £5.5 million into new professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham.

The new professors, Professor Isidro Cortés-Cirian and Professor Amos Burke respectively, will drive vital research into better treatments for childhood cancer.

Over the past decade, our funding has helped researchers make discoveries, develop new ideas, and build the foundations for better treatments.

Where next?

Wendy Tarplee-Morris, co-founder at The Little Princess Trust, said: "Ten years ago, we started funding research because we wanted to do more for children and young people with cancer.

“Providing wigs will always be at the heart of what we do, but we also wanted to help create a future where fewer families face the challenges that my daughter Hannah, and so many others, experienced.

“We’ve come a long way since those first grants in 2016. It's been incredible to see the difference our supporters have made, but there's still so much more to do.

“We're committed to backing the researchers, ideas and breakthroughs that will help create a brighter future for children and young people with cancer.”