Sutton St James woman raising money for Little Princess Trust through hair cut

An ex-police officer from Sutton St James has made a personal sacrifice by giving away some of her hair for a deserving cause.

Stacey Hefford (28) is set to raise £1,000 for children's charity, The Little Princess Trust after she decided to donate 12 inches (30cms) of her hair towards wigs for young cancer patients.

Money has been raised in the village, as well as online, by Stacey who works for NHS England Health and Justice after having to give up her policing career with Norfolk Constabulary in January 2018 due to a rare disorder of the nervous system.

Stacey said: "I wanted to do something that people wouldn't expect me to do so I decided in February of last year to donate some of my hair to charity.

"Firstly, I wanted to give myself as long as possible to grow my hair as much as I could because Little Princess Trust wanted 30cms or more.

"I've had long hair all of my life and it's part of my identity, so it was a pretty drastic decision to donate some of it to charity.

"But it made me realise what it was like not to have hair at all and, in my mind, I was thinking to myself that I'm going to make somebody really happy."

After having her hair cut by a mobile stylist from Norfolk in December last year, Stacey is impatiently waiting for her blonde locks to grow back to their original length.

She said: "It took me a little while to get used to my hair because it was a lot shorter than I thought.

"The hairdresser was really excited by cutting it because she had never done something like this before.

"But I didn't like it and I'm growing it back again."

Stacey encouraged people in Sutton St James to help her raise money for the Little Princess Trust by leaving donation boxes at shops in the village.

"The donations have come in because it was a shock to everybody that I cut my hair," Stacey said.

"It was a big move for me and I'd never done anything as dramatic as cutting my hair was before.

"I went to a fashion show at Sutton St James Village Hall where they raise money for various charities.

"So I took my collecting box up there to see if anybody was willing to donate and two ladies gave me a donation totalling £100, the biggest one I've had so far.

"A lot of the donations have come from friends and family who know me and know that the hair cut was a really big thing for me to do.

"I also put donation boxes in and around Sutton St James, including the butcher's shop and the village stores."

Stacey, who copes daily with a headache disorder called hemicrania continua, admitted she was "really surprised" to have raised nearly £970 so far, including about £790 online.

"I didn't think I'd get close to the £1,000 mark, but to make even one wig for a child is a child's life changed.

"I still suffer from my nervous disorder and there's no recognised treatment for it.

"It's quite hard to manage because it can come on at any time, so I do what I can to recognise when it gets worse.

"I've tried hundreds of medications over the past eight years, but now I'm providing emotional support and services to offenders on release from prison.

"I started off as a make-up artist and then applied to join the police where I worked in all kinds of departments.

"But I don't think I can imagine myself doing a job other than the one I'm in now."

To support Stacey, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hair-for-a-little-princess

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