Biggleswade woman's haircut raises over £3k for charities after three cousins battle cancer

Katie Gentle, 30, faced scissors and a razor on July 9 at a special charity fun day at The Plough, Langford, raising £3,383 for charity.

Her long blonde locks will now be donated to The Little Princess Trust, while £1,171 will go towards Macmillan and £2,212 to Thymic UK.

Katie, who had been growing her hair since 2016, said: "It went really well. It was a really good turnout and I couldn't be more pleased.

"People were saying 'are you nervous?', but I was ready for it and I had been looking forward to it for so long.

"Three of my cousins had no choice, so that's why I did it."

Katie's challenge was to honour her family members, Josh Clifford and Rebecca Llewellyn, who are now cancer free and Sarah Crone, of Sandy, who is battling a rare cancer called Thymic Carcinoma, a type of cancer that develops in the cells that line the thymus gland.

Katie chose Thymic UK as one of her charities, as it raises awareness about the disease to both the public and medical professionals.

Katie said: "There's so many charities to support, it's really hard to choose, but we need to support the little guys, too. It's not a common cancer and they really helped Sarah.

"If the money can help even one person, it will be amazing."

Katie thanks her friends, family and everyone who donated for their support, as well as Andy from The Plough.

Sarah said: “The event was amazing and so, so well supported. The landlord at The Plough, Andy, was amazing, too, supplying a bouncy castle for us that was a huge hit .

"It was a very emotional day for me, seeing so many friends and family that I hadn’t seen since before my diagnosis.

"Katie was so brave when it came to the head shave, I was so proud of her.

"We raised an amazing amount money on the day and via Katie’s JustGiving page, and of course it helped The Little Princess Trust. She has helped so many people.

“Just as important as the funds raised, I got to talk to people about Thymic cancers and spread awareness of the charity, Thymic UK.”

You can still donate to Thymic UK here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/k-rannow