Schoolgirl chops off her locks to support the Luton and Dunstable Hospital

A schoolgirl raised hundreds for the Luton and Dunstable Hospital Charitable Fund when she had 17 inches of her hair cut off on Friday.

Mieke Bakker, from Silsoe, will also be donating her hair to The Little Princess Trust, who make real hair wigs for children and young people who have lost their hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.

Through her Just Giving page, the 11-year-old has now raised over £800 for ward 3 at the hospital, where her mum works as a nurse.

Her mum Philippa said: "She’s had long hair for a while and due to lockdown it had got really long so she decided she wanted to cut it off and donate the ponytail to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children and young people with hair loss.

"But then a friend of mine had the idea that she could also get sponsors and raise money for charity.

"I’m a nurse on ward 3 at Luton and Dunstable Hospital so she hears me talk about caring for patients all the time and was really aware of the impact of Covid and she wanted to raise money for the hospital and particularly the ward I work on.

"She has raised such a huge amount we haven’t even decided what to spend it on but it will be something to benefit our patients.

"We are all really proud of her, it’s not something I would have been brave enough to do at her age but she was really happy and smiling the whole way through the haircut!

"The hairdresser Jaclyn at the Joseph’s Experience in Flitwick was brilliant putting us at ease.

"I'm really proud of her, and myself and my colleagues at the hospital are so grateful that we will be able to buy something extra for the ward to benefit our patients."

The Luton and Dunstable Hospital provides a wide range of general and specialist services to 350,000 people. All money raised by the charity allows the hospital to enhance it's services and provide a safe and more comfortable environment for our patients and their families.

Judith Laurie, her nan, added: "It's lovely what she is doing, I'm really proud of her.

"She has been thinking about it for a while and then in lockdown, when her hair got really long, she thought she could get it cut to raise money and donate the hair to charity."

To make a donation visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/miekebakker.