A Sittingbourne schoolgirl has started the New Year with a drastic new hairdo.

Olivia Newman decided to cut her waist-length hair to raise money for two-year-old Ruby Young.

The Gillingham tot was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer last June.

Since then, Ruby’s parents have been collecting money for the Neuroblastoma Children’s Cancer Alliance.

Nine-year-old Olivia was inspired by the girl’s story after reading about it on her mum Stacey Ludlow’s Facebook page.

Miss Ludlow said: “I had donated to Ruby’s page so her notifications came up on my Facebook and Olivia saw them and asked why she didn’t have any hair.

"I explained that she was sick and Olivia said she could have some of her hair because she has so much of it.”

The Minterne Junior School pupil collected more than £500 towards Ruby’s charity.

Olivia donated the hair to the Little Princess Trust, which provides real-hair wigs to children battling cancer.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/RubyYoungJourney