Two girls from Harrogate will cut and donate their hair to charity to raise funds for The Candlelighters Trust charity.

Holly, 7, and Heidi, 5, will have their locks removed next month and donate their hair to the Little Princess Trust, which will turn it into real hair wigs.

The two girls have been growing their hair since last November in support of their friend Sophia Felgate, 7, who has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Sophia was first diagnosed in 2018, just a week after her third birthday. She finished treatment in August 2020, however the cancer returned last November.

The idea came from Holly wanting to give Sophia her own hair to “make her feel better”, after Sophia lost her hair due to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

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The Candlelighters Trust provides practical, emotional and financial support to families of children with cancer.

They have been helping the Felgate family since Sophia’s diagnosis in 2018. They have provided the Felgates with counselling, family fun days, massages/haircuts/manicures for Sophia and pizza nights.

The fundraiser has already raised almost £1,000. If you would like to donate to the cause you can do so on the JustGiving page.

Scissors, trimmers, combs and brushes, along with face shields, masks, hand and surface sanitisers, are at the ready as Ripon’s hairdressers prepare to cope with the pent up demand tomorrow..

For Sharon Bielby, who owns and runs a men’s barbers shop bearing her name and Deborah Chalmers, owner of Love Hair and Beauty Boutique, it’s going to be a busy weekend.

The new post-lockdown reality means no magazines to read, a strict one in, one out system and chat kept to the absolute minimum.

Both women,say it’s going to be strange re-acquainting themselves with customers who have become more like friends than clients, but they appreciate that the hygiene and social distancing measures are there to protect everybody.

Deborah Chalmers, in her hair and beauty boutique

Deborah, who has been involved in the beauty business since leaving Ripon Grammar School aged 15, told The Stray Ferret:

“We have had a refurbishment over the past few weeks and are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our customers and staff.

“Unfortunately, that means no conversations while we cut and style hair, which will be difficult, because I haven’t been able to see customers face to face for ages.”

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Sharon, whose North Street shop is approximately 100 yards down the road from Deborah’s, is booked to provide dozens of haircuts over the weekend. She said:

“It will be odd cutting hair while wearing a face shield and that in itself will make speaking difficult.”

In spite of being closed since 23rd March, her premises, have provided a shop window for bird houses and bee homes made by adults with learning disabilities at the Jennyruth Workshops charity.

Sharon, pointed out:

“Jennyruth had the shop before I took it over six years ago and I thought it would be nice to help them raise funds. I’m pleased to say that I have been able to sell quite a few during the lockdown, as people rang me to ask for them and I’ve delivered to their homes.”

For Deborah, the coronavirus crisis meant she has temporarily lost out on revenue that would have come from her core business of providing hairstyling and make up for brides and bridesmaids.

Since March, she has had 40 wedding postponements and though this was a devastating blow, she felt the need to give something back during the lockdown to her home city.

She turned her hand to supporting friends Annette and Nathan Kite, by volunteering to cook hot meals for 14 weeks, which were delivered to people in need around Ripon.

Deborah, added: “This gave me a purpose that helped me to get through these difficult months.”

Hairdressers will be allowed to reopen from 4 July – and clearly it’s not a moment too soon for many people in Harrogate.

The Stray Ferret has been out asking people whether they are ready to get back into the chair…

“I can’t wait, can’t you tell… look at my roots”

“I’m walking around with a mop on my head… I had to trim my sideburns as my wife said I looked like the guy from life on mars.”

“I have managed to get an appointment for the 24th July… So I coloured it for the last time last night… I am never doing that again!”

For over three months people have been cooped up, turning to kitchen scissors, freshly-bought clippers or DIY dye kits to keep their hair in check.

But now hairdressers across the country are getting ready to welcome customers for much-needed fixes and trims after getting the green light to open next Saturday.