A PERSISTENT young girl decided to cut her cherished locks in a bid to raise awareness for children suffering with cancer.

Phoebe Wardle took the plunge and managed to convince her parents to take part in the fundraising attempt for Little Princess Trust.

The seven-year-old Highwood Primary pupil was prompted to remove 12 inches of her hair after watching emotive videos of disadvantage children on television and so she decided to play her part.

Michelle Cairns, her mother, explained: "My lovely daughter Phoebe decided to have about a foot of her hair cut and is donating it to the Little Princess Trust.

"We are so proud of our daughter for making this wonderful selfless decision to help others.

"She is a very kind-hearted person who wants to help others. She asked me three times and we wanted to make sure she was serious about it.

"She wanted to go to the hairdressers straight away and I had to make sure it was something she would be happy to do.

Reading Chronicle:

"There are adverts on the TV of sick children. She sees them and she feels like she has to do something and get involved.

"She said she just wanted to make little girls with no hair happy. We are all so proud of her."

Little Princess Trust provides wigs made of real and donated hair to support children who have lost their own hair through chemotherapy.

Phoebe is now determined to grow her hair back so that she can have it cut again for charity.

Her mother added: "We looked into it together and researched the charity. We have managed to raise more than £300 which is three times what she hoped for.

"Some people from her school have sponsored her, as well as family and friends. She can't believe how many people have donated.

"She was so happy to be able to help people and charity is something that I am passionate about, so I am glad it has rubbed off on my children."

Visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/michelle-cairns1 to make a donation to the online fundraising page.