TWO girls are hoping to raise as much money as possible as they prepare to have their hair chopped for charity.

Ashton Dowd, 10, and Ebonie Rutherford, 11, have committed to cutting 30cm of their hair to be donated to The Little Princess Trust.

The girls, both pupils at Heathfield Primary School in Darlington, will be fundraising for the charity up until their big chop on May 1.

So far the pair have raised £200 with collection pots set up in One Stop, Express Stop and B&G Shop on Yarm Road as well as Premier Stop on Eastbourne Road.

They plan on organising charity cake stalls and other fundraising events with the help of their parents.

Parent Stewart Savage has also set up a Facebook fundraising page to rally support for the girls' endeavour.

Mr Savage said: "They had been looking into it for a couple of weeks and they came up with the idea themselves.

"They were looking at it on the internet and one day got us round and said they wanted to chop their hair off for charity.

"There are a lot of poorly children with cancer or other illnesses and these two girls want to try and do something to help.

"They're really going for it to get as much fundraising together as possible. They're getting all the teachers involved at their school and they're working out ways to raise money for it.

"They're trying really hard. I'm proud of them."

The Little Princess Trust provides free wigs to young people up to the age of 24 who have lost their hair through cancer treatment or other illnesses.

First established in 2006, the trust has so far provided over 7,500 wigs to people in the UK.

Since 2016, it has awarded £2.8m to academics and organisations who are looking to find the causes of paediatric cancer as well as kinder, more effective treatments for children.

Any donated hair must be in good condition, with no split ends, and must be a natural colour in order to be woven into wigs.

The trust accepts a minimum length of 17cm but the encouraged length of hair to donate is 30cm or longer, although the greatest demand is for hair measured 41cm or longer.

It also accepts donations of money and Ashton and Ebonie are looking to gather as much sponsorship as they can.

More information about the trust can be found at littleprincesses.org.uk