Okehampton College student Charleigh Miles has made a big decision and will donate 12 inches of her hair to charity to help children with hair loss.

Charleigh, who will turn 16 in December, will donate her locks next month to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which make wigs, free of charge, for children suffering with hair loss.

Her parents, Damian and Kassandra, said: ‘We, along with her brother, are extremely proud of her. Charleigh has always loved having long hair and although she will miss it when it gets cut, she knows it will grow back unlike some other young people who are not so fortunate.’

Charleigh decided to take the momentous decision after struggling to decide how to style hair one day. Following some online research, she decided to donate her hair to help others.

Mum Kassandra said: ‘It was a year ago, now and she was having one of those days when she didn’t know what to do with her hair. I said, “Look, Charleigh, there’s plenty of people that would love to have your hair, stop moaning.”

‘She came back a little while later and said, “What about if I had my hair cut off and I donated it to charity?” I said, “A little extreme, but okay. What do you mean?”

‘She started talking about Little Princess Trust and she’d researched at all and she’d found out about the Just Giving page and she’d really properly researched it. She said, “I’ve got long hair. I love having long hair. And if I can give someone else that opportunity, I’d really like to”.’

Charleigh’s big day is planned for November 5 and she aims to raise as much as she can for the charity, though she has not set herself a specific target.

‘To be honest, she hasn’t really set herself a target. She just wants to raise as much as possible, the same as everybody would. Anything is a bonus,’ added Kassandra.

So far Charleigh has already set up a Just Giving page, put up posters around the school and created a PowerPoint presentation which she will present to each tutor group along with an announcement in the college newsletter.

In July, eleven-year-old Felix Jolley from Okehampton also donated his hair to the Little Princess Trust.

The Little Princess Trust was established in 2006 to provide children and young people who have lost hair due to cancer treatment or other conditions with real hair wigs.

Since it was established, the charity has supplied over 12,000 wigs to children and young people across the UK and Ireland and invested around £20 million into childhood cancer research.

The charity asks that donors provide at least 12 inches (30cm) of hair though its greatest need is for hair at least 16 inches long (41cm)

To donate to Charleigh’s cause visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/charleigh-miles.