Banbury man, inspired by his baby daughter, has locks shorn for The Little Princess Trust

Dale Henderson had not had his hair cut for three years and when he decided it was time for a trim, he did not want to lose the opportunity to raise sponsorship for a children’s charity.

"My wife Emily and I had our first child, Emma, seven and a half months ago. When you have a baby it does change your perspective and I wanted to do something that would help another family in need,” he said.

”I did some research and looked into the reasons The Little Princess Trust was set up and I decided that was the charity I wanted to raise money for.

"I wanted to have my hair cut but I didn’t want to just throw it in the bin. This seemed to be a great way to put it to good use.”

The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions such as Alopecia. It costs The Little Princess Trust £700 to provide a child with a wig and this was Mr Henderson’s target.

The charity is also one of the largest funders of childhood cancer research in the UK.

So far generous friends and relatives have given £350 and the GoFundMe page will be kept open for donations until the end of March. Each will be gratefully received at www.justgiving.com/page/dale-henderson-1707850655139

Mr Henderson is a computer numerical control operator, manufacturing parts from the drawings right through to the physical parts for instruments of all kinds.

He married wife Emily in 2022 after eleven years together. The couple lives with baby Emma on the Hanwell Chase development.

His sister Becky Phelps acted as hairdresser for the occasion sectioning off her brother’s hair into pony tails to cut off and dispatch to the charity.

“I’ve not had this kind of trim since I was about eight,” said Mr Henderson. “I do like it – it’s a lot easier to manage – I can just get up and go.”