Ten-year-old South Tyneside girl raises around £1,500 in under a week by donating hair to cancer charity

Ten-year-old Eva Curtis decided to donate her chopped locks to the Little Princess Trust an organisation that provides real hair wigs to young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment.

Her initial fundraising target had been to generate £550 in order to cover the costs of producing the wig.

But she has already raised more than £1,400 for the charity.

“She didn’t go as far as a crop – it’s a very short bob,” her mam, Jane Curtis, said.

"She’d have shaved her head had I let her. But I couldn’t let her do that – that would’ve been too far.

"She barely batted an eyelid getting it cut off and she loves her short hair now. She actually says it was a hindrance and that it was just getting in the way of things before.”

Hebburn hairdresser Sarah Hamilton cut Eva’s hair for free on Thursday, April 15.

Ms Curtis said the fundraising effort has exceeded the family’s initial expectations, with the total raised continuing to rise each time she checks on the overall donations.

"I can’t remember how she found out about the Little Princess Trust – I don’t know what prompted it,” she also said.

"She just asked to do it, so we had a good talk about it. Then we rang her dad, with me half-hoping he’d say no – and he didn't. So we went ahead with it.

"She’s very unfazed by the whole thing. She says she’s conscious she can grow the hair back, whereas other little girls suffering from these conditions might not be able to.

“We were thinking maybe she might get a couple of hundred pounds from friends and relatives. But it’s absolutely blown up – and every time I check on it, it seems to go up a little bit more.

"It’s mainly been through people sharing the fundraiser. It just seems like everyone’s been touched by her efforts.”

Further details about the work of the trust are available at www.littleprincesses.org.uk.

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