I first read about hair donation a year or so ago and instantly wanted to take part. If you’ve never come across it before, this is when you send ponytails to a charity of your choice and they use it to create wigs for children or women with alopecia or cancer.
It takes between eight and fifteen hair donations to make just one wig, and hair needs to be at least 8.5 inches long if you are sending it to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths programme. Armed with my ‘how to’, and with my wedding safely behind me, I went to a local hairdresser.
“How short do you want it?” he asked.
“I don’t care. Just make sure there’s about 10 inches in the ponytail please,” I answered.
“About here? Shoulder length or chin?”
“Honestly. Couldn’t care less. Do what you want.”
The hairdresser seemed excited to get complete freedom and so decided to give me a graduated bob. I think at one point it was going to be longer on the right than the left, but I assume he had second thoughts. Whatever happened, I love my new haircut and I love that my hair has gone to good use. Hopefully it will help, if even just a little bit, to cheer up a woman suffering through chemotherapy.
If you’re considering cutting off your long, luscious locks, have a think about doing it for one of these charities. Someone can get some good out of what you were going to get rid of anyway, and you’ll feel fab!
Jemma Beedie 