A nine-year-old girl from Willesden Green put on a brave face as she had her hair cut off to raise money for a children’s charity.
Sophia Malta, of Lydford Road, had 16 inches of her thigh-length hair cut into a stylish bob for the Little Princess Trust, which provides wigs for children with cancer.
Joined by her mother Raquel, father Andre and 13-year-old brother Victor, Sophia walked into the Ego Hairdressers in Salusbury Road, Queen’s Park, on Saturday afternoon.
She told the Times: “I didn’t cry.
“I was pretty nervous but it went well. Afterwards I felt kind of free. Sometimes I forget I cut off so much, I just get distracted but it feels lighter and there’s less hair to brush.”
So far Sophia has raised £1,570 of her £2,000 target with more money to come from her classmates and from the parishioners at her church in Kensal Rise.
The Little Princess Trust charity provides real hair wigs to children across the UK who have lost their own hair through radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
They also make wigs for children who have lost their hair through the auto immune disease alopecia.
Many are donated free by the manufacturers in China but the charity also buys them at a cost of £350 each.
Sophia was inspired to cut her hair after her grandmother got breast cancer and she saw her mother running around trying to get her a wig.
A family friend showed her a video of a hospital visit where a child undergoing chemotheraphy said to her “I wish I had hair light that” which made Sophia think she could give some of hers.
She said: “My brother said he prefers it short. My mum and dad said they were very proud of me.”
Asked if she’d keep it short, she added: “I’m going to let it grow again, as long as it was.”
To make a donation to Sophia’s mission visit mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/andremalta1.
Related link: Willesden girl will cut off her hair and donate it to a children’s cancer charity
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