Lily-Mae from Havant will have her first ever haircut aged 13 for the Little Princess Trust

Lily-Mae Barnes has been growing her hair all her life - and now is going to put it to a good cause.

The Havant teenager now boasts tresses that are one metre long, and is planning the first haircut of her life so that half of it can be made into wigs by the Little Princess Trust, which then passes on the hairpieces to ill children who have lost their hair.

Lily-Mae has strong personal reasons for wanting to donate her hair - her cousin died before the age of 10 from cancer and her fundraising will also see money donated to a kidney charity as her brother Declan, 11, has chronic kidney disease.

Because of her cousin’s experience, Lily-Mae decided to grow her locks as long as she could before it was cut, and decided to wait until she was a teenager.

“I'm cutting all my hair for the Little Princess Trust in memory of my cousin and for my brother,” said Lily-Mae. “I decided to give all my childhood hair because people with cancer usually lose their childhood through going to hospital and the illness so I wanted to give my childhood hair for them so they can feel better and bit more confident.”

Lily-Mae’s mum Claire Barnes said: “As she got older, she has always remembered her goal and has continued to be passionate about donating to the children, in memory of her cousin. Over the years we discussed it and agreed to give Lily-Mae her very first haircut at the age of 13 years old and donate it all to the children at Little Princess Trust.

“We wanted to wait until 13 years old because sadly so many children lost their childhood years to cancer… so Lily-Mae wanted to donate her hair from her whole childhood years. So, from birth to a 13-year-old teenager…Lily-Mae has never had her hair cut. She has grown it for 13 years to donate to the beautiful, strong, amazing children that deserve every little ounce of happiness. Lily-Mae wanted to give them that little ounce of happiness.

“It hasn’t always been easy to tame and care for such long hair. There have definitely been a few stressful moments throughout, but we have always known how lucky we are to have healthy hair. We hope whoever receives Lily-Mae’s wig gains their confidence back, because they are beautiful and strong with or without the wig. But if it can put a smile on their face, then it was worth every single day of those 13 years.”

It costs about £700 for the Little Princess Trust to make a wig, so Lily-Mae is fundraising to cover that cost. But she has set her sights higher than that in order to be able to donate to a kidney charity as well. Declan was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at six weeks old.

Claire added: “Declan has been through so much in his 11 years, with much more to face in the future. Lily-Mae had always been an amazing and supportive sister and has always been included in Declan’s health journey. Over the years she has wanted to find a way to help donate money to a kidney charity too.

“That’s when she decided to kill two birds with one stone. Lily-Mae’s plan is to cut and donate her hair to LPT and hopefully raise £1,000 in doing so. Then she will donate £700 to LPT to cover the cost of the wig and use the remaining money to donate to a kidney charity. We as a family want to thank the charities for what they do on behalf of children. We are so proud to make a contribution to such an amazing cause.”

The plan is for Lily-Mae to have her hair cut in August. It will be put into four plaits, each 50cm long, and then each member of the family - Lily-Mae, Declan, Claire and her dad Carl - will cut one each. The family will upload all receipts and proof of donation to their fundraising page.

So far Lily-Mae has already raised more than £950. To donate to Lily-Mae’s campaign click here.