A RIXTON boy who has been growing his hair for more than three years will have it cut off to raise money for the charities that helped him with his cancer treatment.

Jonah James, a pupil at St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Woolston, will donate his hair to Little Princess Trust on May 13.

And after reaching their £500 target in just a matter of hours, the family aren’t far off their latest target of £1,500 already.

Jonah, aged eight, has been in remission for a couple of years now, and his whole family can’t thank Chics and Joshua Tree for how they have helped them all.

Dad Paul Canavan said: “This rocked our world and was something we never expected to hear about our gorgeous little boy.

“The support from the charities has been amazing and they provide ongoing support.

“So has his headteacher Mrs Lea and the school who have been awesome support throughout Jonah’s whole journey.

“There are loads of charities that we would love to mention and donate the money to.”

Paul told the Warrington Guardian that there is little awareness of the after-effect of cancer and that is something that the charities specialise in.

The 43-year-old continued: “You are never prepared for it.

"A lot of people who don’t have any experience with cancer see the effect of the chemotherapy but there is no real awareness of life after cancer and how you do need ongoing support because everything changes.

“It changes your life completely.

“You come out of hospital and you no longer have got this safety net and you have to adapt to a different life.

“Then it’s the ongoing effect of how the chemotherapy affects the development of the child.

“Even three or four years down the line we are still in contact with Joshua Tree and they have specific events just for the adults and the parents.

“They never miss a Christmas or an Easter and they are always there at the end of the phone.

“They are both just amazing charities.”

Paul, formerly a joiner who is now re-training to do accounts so he can work from home, is ever so thankful for the support from family, friends and strangers.

He added: “It’s overwhelming. I don’t think there is much you can say. There are no words – it’s humbling.

“We doubled the target after one day.

“There are hundreds of kids like Jonah – they are so resilient and it’s hard to put into words how grateful you are for the support even from complete strangers.

“If you had no faith in humanity it more than restores it.”

Donations to the Just Giving page can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jonah-james-hair-donation?utm_term=2ddKzmkkQ