Cork schoolgirls comb up with a great fundraising plan
8, Provides And Hair Hair Cancer Their To Raised In To Children 9, Donated Their Have Or Cork To Real Nell Down Have In Murphy, Other Treatment A Due Crab Young Thousands Wigs School Are Collins, Lost Syndrome And Conditions Lane Hair Who That For People Both Have They Cara Charity And Class Third Free National
Friends Nell and Cara have raised more than a few bob by getting their long hair cut into very stylish bobs.
The two Ballintemple girls are well on the way to raising thousands for local organisation Down Syndrome Cork. And they also donated their hair to Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides free real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment or other conditions.
Both girls are pupils of Crab Lane National School in Cork city.
Nell Collins, 9, had seen pictures of her aunty in Germany donate her hair during a covid lockdown and had thought the idea was lovely. Her mum, Aoife says Nell has been growing her hair with this mission in mind since then: "She was so determined to do this and didn't even get her hair cut for her Communion or when her older sisters, Julia and Moya, were getting their hair cut. And they were very good to support her in this."
Cara Murphy, 8, has an older sister, Aibhe, who had donated her hair some years ago when she was also in Crab Lane, so she was also inspired to do this.
"The girls never wavered in their dedication to this even when their hair was getting long and a bit tangly," says Cara's mum, Avril.
While they sent their beautiful hair to the Trust in England, they picked Down Syndrome Cork for the funds raised to keep a local element. Also, Aibhe's former classmate, Cian Minogue has Down Syndrome so it was a logical choice for them.
The girls set themselves the ambitious goal of raising much-needed funds to support children with Down Syndrome. They wanted to do this by buying speech and language resources such as specific toys and books that will help children with Down Syndrome learn speech through play and reading.
Donate here.
Initially their target was €500 but they have far exceeded this — so far the tally is at €5,000 and the donation link is open until September 28.
The big haircuts took place at Leonards in Douglas.
Aoife says: "We couldn't praise Leonards enough — when they heard what we were doing they assigned two of the loveliest hairdressers on a busy day and brought the girls upstairs to their VIP section. And they didn't charge for their work either. They did a brilliant job. The stylists tied the girls' hair into sections and into pony tails and cut those off carefully and then they styled the girls' beautiful new bobs."
Admittedly Cara and Nell were a bit nervous when it came to having their hair cut but they were delighted with their stylish new looks once the work was all done.
They then carefully packaged up their hair and sent it off to the Little Princess Trust on the very same day. And Aibhe, 12, was on hand to record the whole thing for them.
"Because you have to have 12" of hair to donate the haircut was a little shorter than Cara had imagined at first but she really loves it now. And she had a swimming lesson yesterday and couldn't believe how much easier it is to manage and dry shorter hair — no more tangles!" says Avril.
"They're delighted with their new look and all the excitement — the whole thing has been such a nice experience and a lovely memory," added Aoife.
Cian's mum, Tara Casserly, is chairperson of Down Syndrome Cork. She said: "We are very impressed — it's incredible to think that two young girls could make such impact and help two separate groups of children and make such a positive difference in the lives of children who are members of DS Cork."