I Donated My Hair

Here’s how you can do it too.

I donated my hair to the Rapunzel Foundation, an Irish charity making ‘Freedom Hair’ for alopecia patients.

Founder Anna Furlong is a hairdresser in the town of New Ross in Co. Wexford, Ireland. She founded the Rapunzel Foundation after learning that alopecia patients have no government support, nor does their hair (in a lot of cases) grow back. Freedom Hair is designed to allow alopecia sufferers to swim, do gymnastics and live their lives they way they want to.

The Rapunzel Foundation requires 14 inches of hair or more. The hair must be virgin hair (not dyed) and one length. My hair was perfect for this as I had been growing the length over the two years of lockdown without darkening the door of a hairdresser, so it was long and pretty much layer free. I had also stopped dying my hair in 2018 and cut the last of the dyed hair out in late 2019/early 2020, so my hair was entirely my own colour.

Here are the steps for donating your hair:

1. Measure hair and ensure you have the required length for your chosen charity. (See below).
2. Hair must be freshly washed and dried.
3. Split ends must be trimmed.
4. Hair must be put into a ponytail and secured with a hairband. Some charities require this ponytail to be plaited…