HIS long, lustrous locks may be his identity, but that identity is going to change in the near future as Stu Blenkhorn prepares to have it all cut off for The Little Princess Trust.

Stu, 39, is originally from Cononley and now lives in Earby with wife, Claire, and their three children. He has worked at Skipton Building Society head office, in Skipton, for 19 years.

He is now looking at having his signature hairdo lopped off and has opened a fundraising page.

He said: “I’ve always had long (ish) hair but never anywhere near this length and it’s definitely a massive part of my identity.

“Way back in 2018 when it was the shortest it’s been in a long time I decided that I wanted to grow it long again but this time enough to make a donation to The Little Princess Trust.

“When I looked into it I found that, although they appreciate any hair donations, what they were really in need of was hair lengths of 16 inches or more.

“Then with lockdown it meant they couldn’t accept hair for a long time so that gave me an extra bit of growing time. That brings us to now. My plan is to get my good friend Owen who owns Hard Rock Barbers in Cross Hills to do the big cut. He’s had exclusive rights to all hair cuts for the past 20+ years so it’s only fair.

“Before the donation they (Little Princess Trust) ask you to get any the split ends trimmed off as once the hair is cut off, it’s not possible in the way the wigs are manually made by hand.

“So the plan is to book in with him in the next few weeks to get it tidied up then plaited up and chopped into as long a length as I can near the 16” mark. The original plan was to just donate the hair on the quiet and not make a fuss but when I found out the cost of the wigs (approx £560) and that they also fund essential research into child illnesses that cause hair loss - I decided to make a fuss and try raise as much as I can. “

Stu says his family is fully behind him.

“They love that I wanted to do this and have been incredibly supportive as have all my friends. A few ladies in particular have asked for tips in growing it so long but I have no answers, other than I’m pretty sure that’s why I was put on the planet,” he mused.

Outside of work Stu has a musical vibe and runs The Stuie J Blenkhorn Experience, a broadcasting and media production company. “The main focus is original songs (my first single in 2018 I released to raise funds for Manorlands) and an album is on the way but I also do a spot of DJing for kids parties / school discos / weddings (when they can go ahead),” he said.

Stu has already smashed his original £600 target and has raised almost £1,300 to date.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to his cause can do so by going to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stublenkhorn where there is more information.