Bedford woman cuts over 16 inches from her lockdown hair to help pay for church repairs

When Melanie Stretton's hair started to grow during the pandemic, she decided not to take to the scissors for a dodgy lockdown haircut but let it grow instead.

And grow it did - to 30 inches in fact - and that's when Melanie, of Marston Moretaine, came up with the idea of raising money for St Mary's Church tower in the village.

She said: "St Mary’s is where I attend services and I consider myself part of their community. I even got married there in 2019.

"The church is a listed historical building, a truly beautiful one too. Tucked away in our little village. As the building is so old it has a lot of repairs that need doing, it’s status however means that they are extremely expensive."

And Melanie is hoping by getting her hair cut, she will raise £100 as part of Captain Tom's #100 Challenge, which invites people all over the world to complete a challenge of their choice centered around the number 100 to mark what would have been his 101st birthday.

And the excess hair - 16.5 inches - will be sent to The Little Princess Trust which provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment.

The 30-year-old said: "My goddaughter donated hers in 2015, she was seven years old at the time.

"Her sister, my other goddaughter, is currently six years old and is growing hers so that she can donate too. They were my inspiration and once I had looked into it a lot more I decided that was definitely where I wanted to send my hair. It’s such a good cause."

You can make a donation at Melanie's Just Giving page> Are you taking part in the challenge? Email us at [email protected]