Berkhamsted schoolgirls brave the shave by chopping all their hair off to help fight cancer

Two Berkhamsted schoolgirls made the brave call to shave all their hair off to raise money for cancer support causes.

Lily, 10, and Yakira, nine, from Potten End School in Berkhamsted, shaved all their long locks off for the Macmillan Cancer Support, Brave the Shave campaign.

The two best friends have nearly tripled their fundraising target of £1,000 at the time of writing they've raised a fantastic £2,900.

You can access their fundraising page on the Macmillan website here.

Liora, Yakira's mum, told The Hemel Hempstead Gazette: "It was absolutely the two girls' idea.

"We had a family friend who had to have his leg amputated due to cancer a few years ago, and my eldest daughter decided to raise money for him.

"My cousin's daughter had a brain tumour as well, so we've known quite a few people affected by cancer.

"So it was Yakira's turn this year, she decided she wanted to do something. Her and her friend discussed dying their hair all these kinds of things, and then they discussed shaving ti.

"They asked if they could, we spoke to them about how your hair only grows half an inch per month, and they still wanted to do it.

"We got permission from the headteacher and it went from there."

The fateful chops happened on Saturday (12 March), staff at Toni & Guy hairdressers completed the big shave free of charge.

"They were shockingly calm, Liora says, "The adults were more nervous. They had a little bit of nerves, but they were supporting each other throughout the whole shave.

"They smiled through it all. They went to school for the first time yesterday. They were anxious about school, but they got great support from the school. And now they're rocking the bald look.

"Me and Lily's mum, Kate, are so proud of them."

Another point of pride for the girls was getting to become local celebrities by appearing on John Darin's Heart Radio programme this weekend.

Yakira has donated her locks to The Little Princess Trust to be made into a wig for children having cancer treatment.