A FOUR year old girl has raised almost £1,000 for charity by organising a sponsored haircut.

Poppy Anderson was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at just two weeks old, and is now raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The hair cut off will also be donated to the Little Princess Trust, which provides free, real hair wigs for children with cancer.

Laura Anderson, Poppy’s mum, said: “Having never had her haircut, this is a big thing for a four-year-old to do. Within the first 27 hours we reached our online target of £150.

“Poppy was diagnosed at two weeks old via a heel prick test. We already had a healthy child, so we didn't know we were carriers of cystic fibrosis.

“Poppy was on antibiotics every day for the first two years.

"She was found to be pancreatic insufficient at six weeks old so was placed on enzymes for the rest of her life.

“Luckily she has only been hospitalised once, at 15 months old, for 10 days of antibiotics.

“She sees the team of cystic fibrosis doctors, nurses, nutritionist, physiotherapist, every eight weeks.”

Cystic fibrosis is a life-shortening inherited disease, affecting almost 10,000 people in the UK, clogging vital organs with thick sticky mucus.

There is currently no cure.

One in 25 people carry the cystic fibrosis gene.

For someone to be born with cystic fibrosis both parents must be carriers, and then there is a 25 per cent chance the child will be born with it.

The condition can be fatal if it leads to a serious lung infection or the lungs stop working properly.

Currently, around half of the people with Cystic Fibrosis will live past 40, according to NHS, but children born with the condition nowadays can expect to live longer than this.

On her JustGiving page, Poppy said: “My name is Poppy and I am four years old.

“I am raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, having been diagnosed with this life limiting disease at two weeks old.

“I am having a sponsored haircut with the hair being donated to The Little Princess Trust. I will be having a minimum of seven inches cut on May 18 and would like to raise as much money and awareness of these two amazing charities as possible.

“If you would like to help me please donate.”

For more information, and to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/laura-anderson86.

To find out more about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, visit www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk.