Elysia Jo-Crossley and Amelia Harrison: Mayor presents awards to two “exceptional” girls

Elysia Jo-Crossley and Amelia Harrison with Mayor Surinder Biant and Mayoress Cecile Biant

Two little girls who cut off their hair and donated it to charity have been given a special award from the Mayor of Rochdale.

Ten-year-old Elysia Jo-Crossley, from Littleborough, was first to shave off her lovely locks and donate them to a charity which makes wigs for cancer patients because “they need it more than me”.

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Inspired by her selfless act, Elysia’s school friend, eight-year-old Amelia Harrison, decided to cut off her long plaits and add an extra £560 to the funds raised, which totalled at an amazing £6,000, for the Little Princess Trust and Francis House Children’s Hospice.

The two girls, who attend Crossgates Primary School, were invited to the Mayor’s parlour on Monday (8 February), where they were personally congratulated and presented with special certificates.

Mayor Surinder Biant said: “This is an exceptional act from two exceptional girls, and a fantastic sum of money has been raised for these important charities.

“I am very impressed at such a selfless and caring act, these girls set a wonderful example to others and have gone above and beyond to help those who are in need.

“We saw the earlier article (on Rochdale Online) about Elysia and I decided that she deserved recognition for this wonderful thing that she has done. Now little Amelia has also shown bravery in cutting her own hair, I congratulate them both and I am very impressed.”

Proud mum of Elysia, Kirsty Lang said that the award was “one of the proudest moments any parent could wish for”. She added: “Elysia's dad and I are amazed at how much our beautiful little girl has raised, she set a target of £2,000 never did we think she would raise over £6,000.

“We are so very proud of her and overwhelmed at the support of her school, local businesses, friends and family they have all been amazing. We could not believe it when she received an invitation from the Mayor of Rochdale.

“We also want to thank Rochdale Online for covering this story and helping Elysia to get recognition.”

Amelia's mum said: “My daughter is a few years younger than Elysia so I was really surprised that she had those sort of thought processes. It made me really proud when she came come and said that she was inspired by Ellie (Elysia). She said that she would like to be as brave as her. She really looked up to her after what she did, and decided to do a little something herself.”

A spokesperson for Francis House Children’s Hospice said: “I would like to thank Elysia for doing such a brave thing and thinking of the children and families of Francis House at the same time. There can’t be many 10 year olds who would be able to stand in a school assembly and have their head shaved, and by the headteacher as well.

"At Francis House Children’s Hospice we rely on our supporters for over 85% of our annual running cost so you can imagine how delighted we were to hear that Ellie had raised over £6,000 for the hospice.

"So huge thanks again Ellie on behalf of all the children and families of Francis House, this rely is a wonderful donation.”