A SELFLESS seven-year-old schoolgirl has set a date to have her long locks lopped off for charity after begging her mother for 12 months to help cancer-stricken children.

Tori-Leigh White was inspired to help others in need after her mother, Gemma McKay, endured a cancer scare and the family lost their home two years ago.

However, after rising from rock bottom and settling in at Pateley Moor Crescent, Darlington, Tori-Leigh was struck by a television advert that featured a little girl who had lost her hair through chemotherapy treatment.

The seven-year-old, who attends Firthmoor Primary School, became tearful as mother-of-five and care assistant Ms McKay described the cancer-treatment process.

Ms McKay, who is also a student, said: “Tori-Leigh asked me to donate her hair and I said yes, but I thought that she would regret it or maybe become scared and not go through with it so, I put her off for a while and changed the subject.

“In the meantime, I asked if she were to get it done would my hair dresser – Hair by Jordan Simone – do it for us.

“However, a year on and she still asked me to do it. For a whole year at least once a week she has said about doing this.

“I eventually told her that, after Christmas, she can go for it.”

Tori-Leigh’s brothers and sisters have supported their sibling by donating their pocket money to the cause and schoolchildren at Firthmoor Primary School will take part in a whacky hair day for their classmate.

Ms McKay added: “As a mother, my daughter giving her beautiful long, blonde hair to another child who is ill, just to make that child smile and to see the mother of that child smile, is such an amazing feeling.

“Nothing in the world can compare to making a child who is poorly smile again.”

Tori-Leigh’s hair will be cut on February 4 and donated to the Little Princess Trust.

To donate to Tori-Leigh’s mission, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/gemma-mckay2