A five-year-old girl from Talybont is chopping her “long locks” off for charity, in memory of her grandfather.

Ellen Lilly Davies is cutting her long hair and donating it to The Little Princess Trust, in memory of her grandfather, Stevan Southgate, who sadly died from cancer in 2004.

While Ellen never met her grandfather, her mother, Ffion Southgate, said there are many photos of him around the home and the young, “very inquisitive” girl “often asks about Dadcu Stevan”.

Ffion, who was only 14 when her father died, added: “She has always been very interested in how he got sick and we always try and tackle her ‘why’ questions.”

As well as donating her hair, Ellen is also fundraising for The Little Princess Trust and has, so far, managed to raise £180.

On her reason for choosing to donate her hair to and fund-raise for The Little Princess Trust, Ffion said: “One day whilst watching YouTube an advert for The Little Princess Trust came up and caught her attention straight away and she knew straight away that she wanted to help.

“When I asked her why she wanted to do it she said ‘because some kids get sick and lose their hair, that’s not fair mam is it? And I’ve got lots of hair.’”

Ffion is unsure exactly when Ellen will be braving the chop, as they are currently waiting for an appointment, but said Ellen is both excited and nervous: “When I asked her how she felt about doing it she just said little bit excited and a little bit nervous.

“We are waiting for an appointment to become available with our hairdresser, which will hopefully be in the next couple of weeks.”

The Little Princess Trust was established in 2006 to provide free, real-hair wigs for young cancer sufferers or for children and young people, up to 24 years of age, experiencing the devastating effects of hair loss.

Thanks to hair donations and fundraising monies sent to them by “amazing supporters”, such as Ellen, since the launch in 2006 The Little Princess Trust has supplied over 8,000 wigs to children and young people and built a “fantastic network” of salons and mobile wig fitters.

However, in 2016 the charity also started funding “pioneering, life-saving research” into childhood cancers, and have, so far, invested around £5 million in “ground-breaking” research.

A spokesperson for The Little Princess Trust said: “Providing free real-hair wigs is at the heart of what we do, but we also want to support the development of less aggressive and less toxic cancer treatments.

“In 2016, thanks to the huge efforts of our fantastic fundraisers, we were able to begin funding academics and organisations involved in researching the causes of paediatric cancer.

“When The Little Princess Trust first began, we hoped for a day when there would no longer be a need for an organisation like this. We hope, by funding research, to one day make this a reality.”

To donate to The Little Princess Trust and Ellen’s efforts, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ffion-southgate1