CANCER is a dreadful disease for anyone to suffer. But children can be particularly traumatised by the illness, not least because of the way treatment can affect their looks at a time when they may be extremely self-conscious.

Losing your hair must be a terrible experience at such a young age, particularly for girls.

Ten-year-old Maddi Green, from Worcester, is battling leukaemia and has lost her hair three times in the last two years as a result of intensive chemotherapy.

Today she talks bravely about her ordeal because she wants to raise the public profile of the charity that has provided her with invaluable help.

Maddi wears wigs provided by the Little Princess Trust, a charity based in Hereford. The trust makes wigs for children like Maddi from real hair and arranges for them to be professionally fitted in salons.

Their work helps give youngsters confidence when they are at a particularly low ebb.

Maddi tells us the wigs provided by the trust help her to feel “like my old self again”.

It is a small charity and, as a result, is not as well known as it should be. Maddi’s parents say they did not find out about the Little Princess Trust until a year after her treatment started.

On Sunday the youngster’s family and friends are having their hair cut so it can be used for wigs for other children.

It is a great cause and Maddi is an extremely brave little girl.

To find out more about the Little Princess Trust visit the charity’s website at www.littleprincesses.org.uk or call 07899 994666.