An inspirational young girl has chosen to cut her hair short and donate her locks to charity.

Ruby McDonnell, from Kirkby-in-Furness, has gifted 15 inches of her hair to The Little Princess Trust.

(Image: Phil McDonnell) The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions such as Alopecia. They are also one of the largest funders of childhood cancer research in the UK.

The nine-year-old decided she wanted to do something to help after watching a documentary about a little girl with cancer.

Ruby’s dad Phil McDonnell said that after watching the programme she did some research and found out about The Little Princess Trust.

Ruby decided to donate her long hair to be made into a free wig and wanted to raise some money for the charity at the same time.

Her mum Emily McDonnell helped with setting up a donation page with an initial target of £750.

(Image: Phil McDonnell) Phil said: “After sharing the link on social media, donations from friends, family, her mum and dad’s work colleagues and her school community, Ruby reached this initial target in a little over 48 hours.

“Ruby then decided to extend her target to £1,000 and once she reached that, increased it again to £1,750.”

Ruby has since beaten this target and has currently raised over £1,800 with support from more than a hundred people. There is still time to donate here.

On average, The Little Princess Trust says it costs £700 to cover the making, fitting and styling of a single wig, which is why money donations are equally important.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ruby went to the hairdresser for the big chop and was able to donate a length of 15 inches.

“She loves it,” Phil said. “And has received lots of lovely compliments about how much she suits it.

“Me and her Mum are incredibly proud of her for being so thoughtful and kind. Her little sister Edie has been super helpful with the fundraising too.”