Tom Goldring, student at UEA, has been growing his hair out for over a year. After the new year started, he decided to take the chop in aid of the Little Princess Trust and donating sponsorships to St Martins Housing Trust – a local Norwich charity. Setting out to raise £100, Tom smashed his goal and raised £662, every penny will go to charity as the hairdressers did it for free!

He says, ‘I chose the St Martins Housing Trust because the cost-of-living crisis is only getting worse, more people are struggling and facing living on the streets. These donations will hopefully help during these difficult times.’ 

St Martins Housing Trust aims to support, care, and house the most vulnerable people within the community. The department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities found that 3,069 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in England on any given night – a 26% increase since 2021. The figure for Norwich is seven, ‘real people are suffering in plain sight’, St Martins says.  

Helen Baldry at St Martins says, ‘We are thrilled that Tom chose to raise funds for St Martins by getting his long hair cut off. Every penny of which will go to support people experiencing homelessness in Norwich. We are always bowled over by the fun and creative way people raise money, and the way their friends and family get behind them to make it happen.’ 

The Little Princess Trust is a charity that uses donated hair to make into free wigs for children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions. Tom believes this was a cause for donating hair that would have otherwise been thrown out. ‘I knew I wanted to donate the hair itself, it felt right to choose a charity that supports young people who have lost their hair during the cancer process.’