AN inspirational South Ockendon youngster is showing true courage and a great big heart by having her hair cut off to help a children's charity and raising funds for her local scout group.

Libby Greenhowe, 10, from Tamarisk Road and a pupil at Bonnygate School, is planning to have her long locks cut off and she will be donating the hair to the Little Princess Trust which makes wigs for children suffering from illnesses and affected by cancer treatments.

And she will also be hoping to attract sponsorship for her kind action and it will be split between the scout group she attends in the town and the Karis' Helping Hand charity.

The charity was set up by the family of Karis McMonagle from Canvey Island. Karis, spent the first seven months of her life in hospital and was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2011, which was removed.

Yet, despite five years of MRI scans showing positive results, at the start of March 2018 doctors confirmed ten-year old had another large tumour.

In an attempt to create lasting memories with Karis, mum, Angela, set up a fundraising page urging the community to donate any funds they could. Within days, thousands of pounds had been raised as the family's story captured the hearts of residents, who donated in droves.

More than £19,000 was raised in total, including £3,000 from a party at Karis's school, Canvey Junior School.

Originally, the family had hoped the money could be used to explore alternative treatments, but Karis's situation worsened so they opted to take Karis on a host of trips and fun outings instead. She passed away on 21 September.

To celebrate her life and to help others, her family then created the Karis' Helping Hand charity – which is still going strong helping children with brain tumours.

The connection between the two young girls is Libby's mum, who helped nurse Karis and the bond has inspired Libby, who has been growing her hair to donate for the Little Princess Trust for two years.

As well as helping Karis' Helping Hand, Libby also wants to raise money for the Ockendon scout group which she and her brother attend and her family have been involved in scout for many decades.

You can help her reach her fundraising target of £500 by donating via this link.