A YOUNG woman has been recognised for her caring heart after she chopped inches off her hair to raise money for charity after being inspired by a little girl who died of cancer.
Jess Hempshall, 21, Oak Road, Wath, cut 12 inches off her hair in October to raise money for Aalish’s ‘RidetheTheme’ Dream, a charity set up by Joanne Naylor whose daughter Aalish who died of neuroblastoma.
Jess met eight-year-old Aalish at the Young Champions awards last year.
Following news of her death, Jess wanted to raise money in her memory, an act which has earned her a nomination for a Young Champions award under the Young Fundraiser category for the second year running.
Jess said: “I really wasn’t expecting to be nominated again. I’m very surprised but happy because I love doing what I can for charity.”
Last year Jess put pen to paper and published the book, All You Need Is Blood, to raise cash for Cure Leukaemia, a charity which saved her friend’s life. She also participated in the charity’s ‘A Vlog A Day challenge’, where she produced a video blog every day onto social media to raise awareness of leukaemia and in December she was invited to the charity’s award night and presented with an award for being one of the charity’s unsung Hero’s.
She was awarded the trophy by Geoff Thomas, a former Cure Leukaemia patient and former Barnsley FC footballer.
Jess hasn’t stopped there, this year she has teamed up with Cure Leukaemia to create knitted and crochet items to sell and raise money for the charity, in addition to writing bespoke poems to sell.
She said: “I want to continue raising money for charity and thank you for nominating me.”
