A FORMER Penglais School pupil has had his hair cut for the first time in 10 years — and helped raise almost £2,000 for charity in the process.

Dylan Cairns-Howarth, a 19-year-old violinist from Cwmsymlog, near Penrhyncoch, who is now studying music at the Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, has cut his long locks off for the first time since he was nine years old.

Dylan was joined by his fellow long-haired friend and band mate, Sam Mabbett, from Oxfordshire.

Sam and Dylan, who have been friends since the age of 10 when the pair met at a folk music summer school, ended up at the same university studying on the same course.

Together, the pair, who play music together in a traditional folk duo and were semi-finalists in BBC Two’s Young Folk Awards, have raised £1,918 so far for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Dylan’s hair, which was down to his waist, has also been donated to the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for youngsters suffering hair loss after chemotherapy.

Speaking to the Cambrian News this week, Dylan’s mum Catherine Howarth said: “There’s no particular reason for Dylan raising money for Macmillan apart from him thinking it was a worthy cause.

“The line promoters used to use to describe Dylan and Sam was that ‘their talent is growing as much as their hair’. The joke was that Dylan could have strung his bow with it.”

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