Banbury students unite to raise funds for Alec

Mia Corney and Lily Still, both Year 10 students at the Aspirations campus, chose to raise the money for eight-year-old Alec Syphos’ family to buy a hoist and other adaptive home equipment for him.

Alec has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which attacks the muscle, making mobility a challenge.

Rather than a sponsored hike or raffle the girls decided to raise the funds by cutting their long hair off in front of a packed assembly hall.

The pair’s hair was of sufficient length that they also donated that to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children who have suffered hair loss due to illness or the treatment of an illness.

Mia said: “People always think that hair is a big part of being a girl and I wanted to prove that it’s not.”

Hairdressers from Sainsbury’s were on hand to first remove the platted hair that will go to the Princess Trust and then remove the remainder with clippers.

The girls were cheered and applauded by students in the packed Wykham Hall who had chosen to spend some of their lunch break supporting the charitable effort.

Lily’s mum, Rachel, said after the transformation: “First of all I was petrified, just because of how she might feel. Especially girls at this age because they’re so self conscious of their looks.”

The girls’ reaction to their new look was unanimous: “It feels weird.”

The girls have now raised over £1,000.