While there is so much sadness in the world today, it ceases to amaze me the thoughtfulness and the kindness, of the children in this village.
Today I had the greatest pleasure of meeting one of those children, 7-year-old Sophie James, who has recently had an amazing 31 cm cut off of her hair to donate to the Little Princess Trust.
The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs free of charge to children and young people who have lost their hair through cancer treatment and other conditions including alopecia.
CBBC children’s television show, Operation Ouch, is a television programme that educates children on the human body and how medicine impacts biology during medical treatments. This is one of Sophies favourite programmes, and her mum Lucy said she sits for hours watching this show.
It was on one of those occasions that they had been discussing childhood cancers and the effect the treatment has on the body. While sitting and watching, Sophies mum Lucy, sat and gently explained that due to a treatment called chemotherapy, some children were unfortunate and had lost their hair.
Sophie had also heard a conversation regarding a friend of Lucy’s who had recently been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and herself had started losing her hair due to the chemo she was having. It was at this point that Sophie turned to her mum, and said “I want to donate my hair, I want my hair to be made into a wig for another little child”. Kind-hearted Sophie wanted to make a difference, so Lucy looked into how Sophie could do this.
The Little Princess Trust accept all types of hair, straight hair, curly hair, wavy hair, but as you can imagine the hair needs to be, in perfect condition just like Sophie’s was, and longer than 12 inches long. Luckily, Sophie was able to have 31 cm cut off.
However it wasn’t just as simple as having her hair cut off, Sophie also wanted to raise the £550.00 needed to make a completed wig and went about setting up her Go Fund me page to help raise the money.
On Saturday the 13th of May 2023, Sophie and her mum Lucy went along to Hair Loom hairdressers in Bridgend, who offered to cut Sophies hair free, due to her having it cut for charity.
After looking on google and finding the ideal bob, Lucy had the unenviable job of making the first cut. I asked Lucy how she felt, and she said she was very nervous, and worried just in case Sophie didn’t like it, but she didn’t need to worry at all – after having the full 31cm’s off Sophie loved it!
On Monday 15th of May Sophie ventured into school for the first time since having her hair cut, and received a warm reception from the staff and her friends – they all made Sophie feel really special with the things they said. One of her friends, Olivia, told Sophie she loved her haircut, and another friend, William, couldn’t get over how different she looked. Sophie’s nanny Lisa, who is very proud of what Sophie has done, told her how grown up she looked. With all the lovely compliments, Sophie was over the moon.
The money Sophie has raised has smashed expectations, and at the final count she has raised an amazing £805.00, enough to make a full wig, and the money left over will go into cancer research.
I hope one day that Sophie has the chance to see exactly what she has done for a child out there now suffering from this horrible disease. It was a great honour for me to meet such an amazing kind considerate little girl, who just wanted to help others. I can imagine the pride that is felt by her family and friends, and to me she was a little princess herself, with a heart of gold.
The Little Princess Trust has now nearly provided 15,000 wigs to children and young people who have suffered with hair loss. They have also invested 21 million into ground-breaking childhood cancer research – however, without children like Sophie this wouldn’t be able to happen.
I am left humbled by her generosity, and again reminded of the fantastic community I am privileged to live in and serve.