A railway manager has had his first haircut since before the Covid-19 lockdown and has donated his shorn locks to make wigs for children with cancer.

Stuart Hughes, who works as a senior programme manager for Network Rail in Birmingham, had his first haircut in more than forty-one months on Friday 14 July 2023.

Elly and the team at Cloud Nine Hair Design in Shirley, West Midlands, gathered his hair into ten eighteen-inches-long ponytails. Stuart snipped off the first one.

The ten ponytails are being donated to Hereford-based charity The Little Princess Trust, which provides real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or through conditions such alopecia.

The Little Princess Trust was set up in 2005 in memory of Hannah Tarplee, who had been diagnosed with a Wilms Tumour the previous year. Hannah’s hair loss was especially traumatic, so her parents set up the Little Princess Trust.

The charity has now provided wigs to more than fifteen thousand young people, and is also one of the largest funders of childhood cancer research in the UK.

Each wig costs around £550 to make, so Stuart raised this amount of money and more, with the extra money raised given to the charity to help make more wigs for children in need.

Donations can be made to Stuart’s fundraiser here.

Stuart Hughes said: “I have never had long hair before and during the first lockdown I just thought I would let it grow out a bit longer than usual. As time went by a number of people said that if I ever get my hair cut I should donate it, so I looked in to it.

“The biggest demand is for hair over 12 inches long so I was delighted to have 10 ponytails around 18 inches long cut off last Friday! Whilst I may miss the long hair a little bit, I am really pleased that it will go to someone for whom it will make a really positive difference.”

Wendy Tarplee-Morris, founder of The Little Princess Trust, said: “We are so pleased Stuart decided to donate his incredible lockdown locks to us.

“His lengthy hair and phenomenal fundraising will be a huge help to us as we continue to provide more and more wigs to children and young people with hair loss.”