'Wanted to make little girls smile'- Preston girl, 7, donates hair to Little Princess Trust & raises £1000

A seven-year-old girl from Preston has raised over a thousand pounds for charity after chopping off nearly all her hair.

Rosa Frith, a pupil at Lea Community Primary School, surprised her whole family recently when she revealed she wanted to donate her hair to The Little Princess Trust.

The nationwide charity provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer.

Explaining how it came about, Rosa’s proud grandmother, Bernie Killeen, said: “She saw a programme where a girl had lost her hair and when she asked why, her mum explained that she had been unwell. Then my daughter, Nicola, told her about the Little Princess Trust and Rosa went ‘well I want to do that’ just out of the blue. We told her she had to think about it but that’s what she decided to do, she said she wanted to make little girls smile.”

In her own words, Rosa told the Post: “I wanted to help make wigs because I saw on TV that when little boys and girls are poorly they can lose their hair.

“I wasn’t worried about doing it because it just grows again.”

The haircut took place on Saturday, May 23 at Allure Hair and Beauty Room in Preston and Rosa’s loved ones were all there to support her as she got the big chop.

In the end 12 inches came off, meaning Rosa’s hair, which previously reached her bottom, now rests against her neck.

Admitting her hair now feels “a lot different”, which was a blessing in the recent heatwave, Rosa told us she would do it all over again in future.

The seven-year-old said: “I liked doing it because I helped other children.”

Asked what her family and friends think of her new look, Rosa said “mummy likes it” before grandma of three Bernie added: “She suits it, she really does!”

Our photographer was there on the day to film Rosa’s momentous haircut and when the video was shared to the Lancashire Post Facebook page, our readers chimed in with their compliments on both her haircut and bravery - which made Rosa shy according to her gran!

The support she has received from the community for her generosity extends past the Lancashire Post readers too.

Alongside donating her locks, Rosa’s family put together an online fundraising page and a physical sponsor sheet so that she could raise money for the charity as well.

The manager at Bernie’s workplace- the Tesco on Deepdale Road- also donated a homemade reborn doll which the family raffled off tickets for in a ‘Name the Baby’ game.

Across those three channels, Rosa has now raised over £1000 - far surpassing her original £100 goal - and the online page is still open if anyone wishes to donate more.

Grandma Bernie added: “It's just been a whirlwind, really. But for a little girl to do it, I think she's amazing. She's not gone around showing off or anything. She hadn’t even mentioned it to her school friends, like wow, she just wasn't flinched, she’s amazing.

“We as a family cannot thank family and friends enough for all their donations. Also personally I would like to thank Josie Mitchell for the lovely reborn that she donated to help raise additional money, as well as Lauren Eccles at Allure Hair & Beauty Room for the cut and making Rosa look just as beautiful with her new haircut.

“To say we’re proud is an understatement. We are super, super proud of her.”