As one half of the Campus Correspondents for our chapter, I thought I’d use our newest ‘Profile’ section to tell you a bit more about me, and my decision to cut 10 inches of my hair off and donate it to the Little Princess Trust this week.
I’ve just turned twenty, I enjoy painting (though I don’t do it as much as I should!), walking, baking and travel. I started at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus doing an English Literature degree, but in my second year, I’ve found myself doing a predominantely Geography degree instead. I like rocks and books, basically.
University has brought out a lot of ideas and interests I never knew I had, and often with these changes come spur-of-the-moment decisions that can end in either happiness or heartbreak – which is where cutting 10 inches of my hair off comes in!
My hair has been long practically all my life, and I’m sure others with very long hair can vouch for the fact that you get people telling you your hair is some variation of ‘impressive’, ‘lovely’ or ‘in such good condition’ quite a lot, and that leads to something of an attachment to it, and for me I think it became part of my identity.
I’ve had people tell me it was a ‘brave’ thing to do to cut it, and that they’re proud of me for making the decision. As much as I appreciate their support, the truth is I just saw Joy and thought ‘I wonder what I’d look like with short hair’ (my article here proves it). Hair donation can definitely be a brave thing to do, but in this case it wasn’t quite an after-thought, but a motivator for a decision I’d already made (though I did doubt myself a lot!). My logic was, once I’d questioned cutting it, somebody else already needed it more than I did, and my hair will almost certainly grow back – others aren’t so fortunate.
‘Before’ photo:
‘After’ photo:
The choice of the Little Princess Trust was based on the fact that I had semi-permanently dyed my hair, the wigs are free for the children who get them and a few positive recommendations. The process was very simple – you can learn more about supporting the Trust here. Another great point about the Little Princess Trust is that they only need 7 inches of hair, which is less than most other places.
Even if you don’t want to shave all your hair off like some brave people do, you can still make a difference. If you’re thinking of going shorter with your hair, I’d definitely recommend donating if it meets the 7 inch requirement – it’s super easy to donate, is so much less wasteful, and saves the hairdresser sweeping it all off the floor!
Other bonuses of shorter hair include:
- So much less shampoo/conditioner:
- It doesn’t take an hour to curl:
- It’s easy to flick:
Make sure you check out the Little Princess Trust if you’re interested, and if you can spare some cash, visit my fundraiser page here. Little Princess Trust sometimes has to buy wigs when they can’t find a suitable match for a child, and each of these cost £350, so every pound makes a difference!