Generous Aoibhín raises €5,000 as she loses her hair for two charities

Kind-hearted Aoibhín Primrose from Nobber, who has been growing her hair for two years so she could donate it to the Rapunzel Foundation, had her beautiful long locks chopped on Friday afternoon.

The nine-year-old wanted to do something to help others during the first lockdown in 2020 and has been growing her hair since so it can be made into wigs for children who have lost hair whether through treatment or illness like alopecia.

Not content to just donate her hair, generous Aoibhín also wanted to raise money for two charities - Aoibheann's Pink Tie, the national children's cancer charity, and also her local Nobber Cancer Support Group.

To date, Aoibhín has raised a whopping €5,000 for the charities between donations to her gofundme page and she also held a hugely successful cake sale on the greenway in Nobber which raised over €1,700.

Aoibhín has made a number of videos posted to social media telling people about her fundraiser and why she is doing it and in her latest one, she gave the incredible good news that their total has passed the €5,000 mark.

Proud dad Ian said: "Aoibhín was thinking about ways she could help other people during the first lockdown. It was tough on everyone and it was something she could do that could have a positive impact on others. She began growing her hair for the Rapunzel Foundation and she decided she would like to raise money for charity once her hair got long enough as well."

Since going live just over two weeks ago, over €2,800 has been donated on the Gofundme page and donations can be made here up to 18th July. Donations have come from near and far, some from as far away as the US and Australia.

Ian said it really showed the power of a video and that something about Aoibhín had really captured people's imaginations. A natural on front of the camera, Aoibhín's update videos were made in just one take.

Carolyn Clinton Art of Hair, who is registered with the Rapunzel Foundation, did the honours cutting Aoibhín's waist length hair which came in at 19 inches when cut. Her hair will now be used to make wigs for children suffering hair loss.

Ian said: "We are so proud of her. For her to put her mind to it at just seven and stay committed for two years. What really struck us was how much she wanted to help others and how selfless she is. It was all driven by Aoibhín." Ian added how Aoibhín's little sister Freya is one of her biggest supporters and really looks up to her big sister.