A schoolgirl has had her long locks chopped off in aid of a good cause.

Norwich Evening News: Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch.Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch. (Image: David Lynch)

Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has always had long hair, but this year decided she would have it cut short and would donated it to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which makes wigs from real hair for children who have lost their own due to cancer treatment and other illnesses.

Ivy, a Colman Junior School pupil, said: 'I just wanted a change really and I knew I wanted to donate it to charity.'

Ivy wasn't sure which charity to donate it to at first, but when she watched a YouTube video about the Little Princess Trust, she knew she had found a worthy cause.

Ivy's mother Sacha, 41, was proud of her daughter's decision to donate her hair to charity, but was initially reluctant to see her lose her long locks.

Norwich Evening News: Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust. Pictured is Ivy Stone with her mother Sacha Stone, 41, her sister Ellie Brown, 18, and hairdresser Sophia Meek, 20. Photo: David Lynch.Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust. Pictured is Ivy Stone with her mother Sacha Stone, 41, her sister Ellie Brown, 18, and hairdresser Sophia Meek, 20. Photo: David Lynch. (Image: David Lynch)

Sacha said: 'It's quite sweet of her to do this. A few months ago she had it in her head that she was bored with her hair and she decided she would cut it off.

'I told her to give it a couple of weeks and she did, and she first looked into selling it to save money for a trampoline.

'Then last week she said she wouldn't sell it but give it to charity. I am very proud of her.'

Sophia Meek, 20, who cut Ivy's hair at Above the Fringe hair stylists said it was rare for people to donate their hair to charity.

Norwich Evening News: Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch.Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch. (Image: David Lynch)

'There is always a few people who say about it and then don't have it done. Hair can be such a precious thing nowadays,' she said.

Ivy's two plaits of 14 inches will now be sent by post to the Little Princess Trust to be added to a wig made from hair of a similar colour.

The trust accepts donations at a minimum length of 7in, and it can take up to 10 of these, or 800g of hair, to make a single wig.

Anyone interested in the work of the Little Princess Trust can visit their website, where they give directions of how to donate and fundraise, at www.littleprincesses.org.uk/

Norwich Evening News: Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch.Ivy Stone, 11, from Lakenham, has had her hair cut short and has donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust, Photo: David Lynch. (Image: David Lynch)