Fundraising and Community
As someone who suffers from alopecia herself, Vanessa has a strong ethic of community support and fundraising to develop medical research. Here you can find links to organisations that Vanessa is proud to support.
Alopecia UK
Alopecia UK provides information, advice and support to children and adults with all types of alopecia. For many, the change in appearance that alopecia brings is something they struggle greatly to come to terms with, resulting in loss of confidence & self-esteem. Alopecia UK is there to help.
Help to raise funds for Alopecia UK by clicking here.
Autoimmune Alopecia Research UK (AAR-UK)
Alopecia areata has been viewed as a cosmetic, dermatological condition for many years and AAR-UK was set up to fund and develop diversified research. They are the first charity in the UK to fund for medical research into this autoimmune disease and are currently engaged with researchers in Europe and the UK.
AAR-UK's aims are to collate studies and surveys within their own community to investigate common factors with the disease. In the future, they would like to build a complete survey of sufferers in the UK. These initial surveys will stand them in better stead for initiating their own lines of research and attracting researchers who would be interested in taking up such projects.
The charity will be campaigning and raising awareness of autoimmune alopecia and educating sufferers and the public about autoimmunity. Their main objective will be fundraising for future research projects to find a potential cure or treatment plan to manage autoimmune alopecia.
AAR-UK hope to benefit the public through increasing awareness of autoimmune alopecia, resulting in the general public being more understanding of the disease. They aim to highlight the increasing prevalence of the disease and make sufferers feel less ashamed and embarrassed about living with autoimmune alopecia.
Help to raise funds for medical research into Alopecia by clicking here.
Little Princess Trust
The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland that have lost their own hair through cancer treatment. As a result of treatment for cancer, most children will suffer hair loss as a side effect. Some boys and girls cope remarkably well but for others this can be very upsetting. The Little Princess Trust is a children’s cancer charity and their mission is to supply real hair wigs to children suffering with cancer, for the duration of their treatment. However, in addition they assist children with other conditions which also result in hair loss, the most common being alopecia. Their commitment to these children is different. Despite being set up to help children with cancer, the Trust is able to supply children that do not have a cancer diagnosis with a single wig. Whilst they are unable to commit to supplying more than one wig, they hope that this gesture will help the child and family whilst they decide on their long-term plans for dealing with this condition. Glamorous Butterfly is proud to be an official Little Princess Trust salon.
If you have hair to spare, you can donate it by clicking here. If you would like to make a donation, please click here.
MacMillan Cancer Support
Glamorous Butterfly is registered with the MyNewHair organisation, which was founded by Trevor Sorbie as an official supplier, stylist and cutting service for NHS wigs purchased under the voucher scheme. MyNewHair provides public advice and support a national network of independent salons and professionals who provide a wig styling service for people suffering from cancer and medical hair loss. They have produced a booklet of advice and information on what happens when you lose your hair, choosing a wig, having your wig styled to suit you and aftercare/ hair re-growth in conjunction with the Department of Health and Institute of Trichologists.
Click here to download the MyNewHair Patient Information Resource PDF.
Glamorous Butterfly was MyNewHair's Featured Salon in the Autumn 2016 edition of their newsletter: read it here.
World Alopecia Community, Inc.
The focus of World Alopecia Community, Inc. is to enhance the overall well-being of those affected by all forms of alopecia, through evidence-based education, wellness activities, and community support. They want to teach people to not just live with alopecia but how to thrive. Whether you are new to alopecia or have had it for years, you will benefit from being a part of the World Alopecia Community.
Click here to access the World Alopecia Community, Inc. resources
World Health Innovation Summit
The WHIS supports inspiring platforms around the world that encourage innovation and knowledge exchange to improve health and social care. It's vision is to set the benchmark in providing and supporting health and social care summits around the world.
