A 10-year-old girl with a big heart has raised more than £1,300 by cutting her hair for The Little Princess Trust.

Two years ago, Mared Carrod saw a little girl of a similar age who had lost her hair through chemotherapy. Wanting to make a difference to young girls who had experienced hair loss, she went on to grow her hair and to research charities who make wigs with natural hair. 

Mared came across Herefordshire-based charity, the Little Princess Trust, and found out that it costs between £550 and £700 to make a wig for a young person. 

The Little Princess Trust provides free real hair wigs to children and young people, up to 24 years, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.

It also funds childhood cancer research searching to find kinder and more effective treatments. 

The charity has so far provided 15,000 wigs to children and young people with hair loss and invested £23 million in ground-breaking childhood cancer research.

On her 10th birthday, Mared announced to her local community of Rhayader, that she was cutting 30cm off her hair to donate to the Little Princess Trust and would appreciate sponsorship in order to make a wig for a young person. Donations quickly poured in and in just 10 days, Mared had raised an incredible £1,350.

Mared said: “I knew I wanted to cut my hair and send to the Little Princess Trust to give a poorly little girl a wig, to make her feel better, until her own hair grows back.”

Mared’s mum Julie, said: "Mared is a very kind and thoughtful girl, determined to see things through to the end. Youngsters get such a rough time of things but this was so incredibly heartwarming achievement. This is such a Mared thing to do. She always puts the needs of others first and then when she saw Amy Dowden on Strictly Come Dancing without her wig, following her cancer treatment, she became even more focused on the task.  

“Sponsorship was something Mared had read about but the support of the community of Rhayader and district, friends, families and individuals has been incredible with enough raised to make two wigs! Thank you is so inadequate in response to the appeal.”

The Little Princess Trust relies solely on the generosity of its supporters who help the charity give Hair and Hope to so many children and young people with cancer each year.

For more information, visit the charity's website here.