Big-hearted Medine Bilgen is cutting off her own beautiful long hair to help children who lose their hair to illness.

The Birchington Primary School pupil is appealing for sponsors in aid of the Little Princess Trust.

The charity provides real hair wigs for children suffering hair loss through cancer and other conditions.

Medine, 10, of Stone Barn Avenue, has been growing her hair since she was six and can sit on her thick brown tresses which will themselves be used for wigmaking.

The deed will be done on Saturday, October 5 and is inspired by Medine’s empathy for her grandmother, who suffers from alopecia, a hair loss condition.

The cost of having a wig made from her hair specifically for her grandmother proved prohibitively expensive so Medine set her heart on helping other children.

She is looking forwards to some of the pluses of having shorter hair.

“My hair is so long it sometimes really bothers me. When I go swimming with my friends with short hair, they always shampoo and rinse theirs really quickly but I will still be doing mine when they have finished,” said Medine.

“I really want to give my hair to someone who hasn’t got any so I feel good about that.”

Mum Denise said: “It will be quite a change, but for a good cause. I am very proud of her. Everyone is.”

Anyone who would like to support Medine for the Little Princess Trust can do so online at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DeniseBilgen For more on the charity, visit www.littleprincesses.org.uk