A LANCASHIRE school girl, who may have developed alopecia due to ‘lockdown anxiety’, is cutting her hair off for a good cause.

Megan Hogarth, from Thornton Cleveleys, will be cutting seven to nine inches of hair off this Sunday (15 May).

She will then be donating it to children’s hair loss charity, Little Lady Locks.

Megan, 11, is also accepting donations via GoFundMe and hopes to raise enough money to pay for a secondary wig for the charity.

Lancashire Telegraph: Megan HogarthMegan Hogarth

The St Teresa’s Catholic School pupil was diagnosed with alopecia areata last year when mum, Emma Hogarth, noticed a bald patch at the back of her head.

This patch gradually got bigger and Emma thinks the stress of lockdown is to blame.

Emma said: “She suffered with quite a lot of anxiety during lockdown which I think is the reason why it was brought on – she struggled quite a lot.

“One minute she is positive about the condition and the next moment she is not and quite worried about what people think about her.”

Lancashire Telegraph: Mum, Emma Hogarth, found a bald patch on Megan's scalpMum, Emma Hogarth, found a bald patch on Megan's scalp

Thankfully, the alopecia only affected one patch of her head opposed to Alopecia Totalis which is characterised by complete loss of hair.

Megan is able to cover the patch with her remaining hair while it grows back.

However, this left her feeling concerned for other children like herself who have lost their hair completely.

Emma said: “She really wanted to help other kids in need and has been bugging me for weeks to do it.

“I didn’t want her to rush into anything as cutting your hair off is a big thing, especially when you’re losing some of it.

“But she was adamant and really wanted to help.”

Megan said: “I really want to help people who aren’t as lucky as me.

“I want to donate my own hair but I would also love to try and raise some money to help others who need it more.

“It costs around £600-£850 for a full wig, so I would love to not only help a child with my own hair but help towards another child who is in need of a hair replacement.”

Megan has raised over £560 so far and is hoping to reach at least £600.

Emma said: “We really didn’t expect to raise over £500. I set the target at £200 but we smashed that in two hours and I was absolutely shocked.

“She’s so happy. She keeps checking the total every morning when she wakes up.

“With alopecia there’s little you can do to help other than build up the child’s confidence.

"That’s what Little Lady Locks is trying to do and why we really want to raise as much as we can for them.”

Learn more about Megan’s story and make a donation by visiting her GoFundMe page.