Schoolgirls braved the scissors yesterday at a hair salon in the name of charity.

Six girls, in Years 5 and 6 at Bermuda High School, smirked while stylists from Bang Bang cut ten to 15 inches off their hair in support of ‘Locks of Love’.

‘Locks of Love’ uses donated hair to construct wigs for children who lost their hair due to medical conditions, such as cancer.

It takes six to ten people’s hair and approximately four to six months to assemble a wig from human hair and to date the charity has provided more than 2,000 children with quality wigs, since its inception in 1998.

One of the donors, 11-year-old Emily Osborne said: “I had long hair for a really long time and wanted to see what I would look like with it short. And I think it makes me feel good knowing I’m giving my hair away for a good cause.”

The girls were excited and nervous before the inches came off, but several were happy with the end result.

Ten-year-old Kali Lespere took off ten inches of her hair and still had some length left over. She said: “I’m happy because I get to give my hair to little children and I’m happy because I love my hair cut.”

Her mother, Shanna, explained that Kali had been asking to donate her hair since she was five years old. Her mother said: “As a parent I’m just really blessed to have children who are healthy, so this seems like a small thing to do for families that are going through so much”.

The morning was filled with surprises as a woman in the salon, scheduled for a routine trim, decided to donate her hair for the cause.

Roberta Williams, who said she was in “the right place and right time”, wanted to donate her hair to the charity for some time. She said: “I’ve always prided myself with my long hair that’s why I’ve always kept it long.” She said she could not imagine how difficult it would be for children living without hair.

“There’s so much wrong with the world that I just want to give back,” she added.

The girls who took the plunge yesterday included Mary Glass, Grace Ewles, Isabel Thompson, Molly Pilgrim, Kali Lespere and Emily Osborne.

In addition, four other BHS students donated their hair a few weeks ago, including Harriet Woodward, Kristen Cusamano, Ava Braddock and Alex Goodman, and lent their support at the salon. Teacher, Sheila Chase, also took part in the initiative.

Harriet Woodward now has hair above her shoulder and said: “I am glad because its not as much work to take care of it. I feel kind of glad that I did it because it is a good cause. ‘’

Bang Bang salon and stylists provided their time and services free of charge for the cause.