Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Big-hearted mums, daughters and single women with luscious locks in Bahrain proved they were a cut above the rest by donating their hair to a charity which produces wigs for children who are undergoing cancer treatment.
The Beauty Spot Salon and Day Spa, located in Hamala, staged a two-day event inviting grown-ups and girls from as young as five to chop off a lengthy amount of their hair to help poorly children feel like little princesses.
The idea came about when salon owner Hessa Al Khalifa approached her operations supervisor Nikki Bonnici about supporting a cause helping sick children, particularly during a month when campaigns across the globe were focusing on the disease.
Nikki and the team were up for the challenge and she said: “I can’t think of doing anything better than helping children.”
It was then that Nikki came across the Little Princess Trust, a charity which supplies real-hair wigs to boys and girls in the UK and Ireland suffering from cancer and other conditions resulting in hair loss, such as alopecia.
The Little Princess Trust was launched in 2006 by the parents of Hannah Tarplee, who died in 2005 after stuggling against Wilms tumour, or nephroblastoma, a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children.
Hannah’s parents, Wendy and Simon, were touched by the support they received and started a charity dedicated to providing specialist children’s wigs.
Cancer treatment often causes patients to suffer hair loss which can have devastating psychological effects at a time when all efforts need to be concentrated on fighting the disease.
According to her parent’s, their little princess Hannah loved her hair and losing it proved extremely traumatic.
Nikki said: “Children by nature in school can be cruel. To go through cancer is one thing but to lose your hair and deal with those feelings that you are different than the other children – that’s hard. This is why this is especially important for these kids. We don’t want them feeling alienated. Also, to find high-quality wigs is hard and it’s really expensive.
“What this charity is doing for these children is wonderful. We want to help kids all over the world and we are hoping that someone somewhere will set up a charity like this in this region.”
Human hair is known to cause less irritation to wig-wearers than those made from animal hair or synthetic fibres and look more natural.
Since the Little Princess Trust’s inception, the charity has helped more than 2,200 children thanks to donations from across the UK, Ireland and, now, Bahrain.
More than 20 women and girls went in for the chop, donating no less than seven inches of their hair and raising BD1,280 in funds for the cause through the sale of wrist bands and pins, as well as shirts and caps boasting a variety of ribbons symbolising different cancers.
St Christopher’s School student Emily Botham, eight, from Riffa Views, donated 10 inches of hair as well as more than BD100 to the charity. Her mum Nicki had heard about the initiative on the school’s parent portal and sent out messages to all her friends about Emily’s donation.
Nicki, a part-time teacher at Al Nadeem School, said: “I had asked if anyone would like to donate their hair or pledge some money for this charity. We received generous donations for Emily and she chopped off 10 inches. She wanted to get her hair cut and it will go to children that need it.”
Five-year-old Patricia, from Adliya, a student at the Philippines School, also donated nine inches, by supporting her grandma! Her mum Kristine Poneioso, 29, a waitress, said: “My mother works at Beauty Spot and told me about the event. I then asked Patricia if she would be willing to donate some of her hair.
“She asked me why and when I told her that there are ill children that had lost their hair she had no second thoughts and immediately said, yes.”
Mudannyake sisters Theja, 10, and Vishmi, six, donated 26 inches of hair between them along with their friend Piyumi Adolthus who donated nine inches. Their mums Sandra Adolthus and Sandhya Mudannyake were supported by the New Indian School students’ decision to help.
Sandra, a nanny from Isa Town, said: “I heard about the event through my employer and when my daughter heard about it she told me she wanted to cut her hair too.”
Hessa said: “While we did get adults cutting their hair we were pleasantly surprised to see so many young people excited about helping other children. For example, Danielle Brandt, who is in her 20s, donated 18 inches and St Christopher’s School student Jasmine Young, nine, donated 12 inches. She also raised almost BD243 through www.gofundme.com and more than BD100 through a sponsorship form which she picked up at the salon.
The hair, which is cut into ponytails tied at both ends, has been bagged and will be packaged for shipping to be sent to the organisation. Then, hair deemed acceptable by the charity will be sent to a wig-making factory in China. From these donations, a large number of wigs are manufactured and given to the charity free of charge. These wigs, made in particularly small sizes, would normally cost around BD1,215 each.
Nikki added: “This will not be our last event as we are planning to do this annually. Also, anyone who wants to come in throughout the year is welcome as it will be an on-going initiative. We have already contacted the Little Princess Trust and they are over the moon with the amount raised and the bags of beautiful hair donated.”
The salon is open from 9am until 7pm. For further details on hair donations, contact Beauty Spot Salon and Day Spa on 17611888.
