Carly's determination leads to historic breakthrough in wig making
Carly Gorton, 10, will be able to donate her Afro hair to The Little Princess Trust. Pictures: BRITTANY WOODMAN - Credit: Archant
An 11-year-old girl from Norfolk has been instrumental in the creation of the first wigs made from Afro hair, which will be given to young people who lose their own.
Carly Gorton, from Southburgh, near Hingham was a vital part of the historic breakthrough by charity The Little Princess Trust which has been able to create two wigs made of Afro hair.
The road to the "emotional moment" started when the Norwich School for Girls pupil, then 10, wanted to make a donation like her friends, but found nowhere in the UK took hair like hers due to its structure.
Her family began searching for a wig maker and appealed for help through this paper, leading the charity to work with others trying to achieve the same goal.
Carly Gorton, 10, from Southburgh near Hingham, shaved her hair off to raise more than £2,500 for the Little Princess Trust. - Credit: Anna Mudeka
Carly: "I'm really happy the Little Princess Trust have finally finished it. It's really good that can we can now see they can take all kinds of hair and have made the first Afro wig in this country.
"I'm really happy and proud that I get to help someone in this way."
Her mum Anna Mudeka said: "It was so emotional. They kept us up to date all of the way and to see the wig was unbelievable. What we were told was unachievable to have been through the process and the final result, I had a little tear in my eye.
"When you look at it it feels little but when we sat down and started digesting it, this is really big.
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"We have made history and a great outcome has been achieved."
Carly Gorton, 10, wishes to donate her hair to charity, but it turns out there is difficulty making wigs with the type of hair she has. Her family are highlighting this and hope they can find a wig maker so Carly can help other children like her. Pictures: BRITTANY WOODMAN - Credit: Archant
As a result of Carly's appeal, the Little Princess Trust began working with Cynthia Stroud, who had been experimenting with making wigs from Afro hair, as her son had also been unable to donate due to his hair.
After "considerable trial and error" the entrepreneur and TV food judge created a wig by putting the hair in wifts - a different technique to the way wigs are traditionally made which have been reproduced by the team at Raouls Wigmakers.
The shorter wig was hand knotted while the longer one was made using a mixture of wefts and knotting in the lace at the top of the wig cap.
Phil Brace, chief executive of Little Princess Trust, said: “The commitment and work that has gone on has shown just what is possible when groups of people get together and bring different skills to find a solution."
