Date published: 11 January 2018 by Anna Jackson

We are delighted that This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby took to Instagram on Monday 8 January to support her best friend who is raising money for the charity, which is supporting her sister’s family.

In Holly’s detailed post she spoke of her friend Emma Driver’s fundraising challenge to cut off 12 inches of her hair to support families with a seriously ill child. Holly wrote:

“In 2010 I did my best friend Emma’s hair for her wedding day…today she has decided to cut off 12 inches of that beautiful hair to help her sister’s baby girl Alice… sisters and friends will always stand side by side and help where they can ... love you Ems, one of this worlds special people!”

Holly copied Emma’s post which said:

“We are raising money for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity - a lovely charity close to our hearts, as they support our little one-year-old niece Alice, who has Bilateral Retinoblastoma.”

Calling on people to donate to Rainbow Trust, Emma wrote that Rainbow Trust helped families through stressful times, enabling them to take an occasional break.

“We are very grateful to Rainbow Trust and as they continue to support Alice and the whole family through her journey,” she wrote.

As well as hoping to raise £2,000 for Rainbow Trust, Emma’s hair will be donated to The Little Princess Trust who provide wigs for children who have lost their hair due to illness.

Since posting her message Holly’s post has been liked more than 84,000 times with over 600 messages of support, including from other Rainbow Trust supporters and families helped by the charity, thanking Holly for raising awareness of the charity.

Our Family Support Workers enable families who have a child with serious illness to make the most of their time together. Rainbow Trust pairs each family with an expert Family Support Worker who helps them at home, in hospital and in the community, for as long as it is needed.

Oonagh Goodman, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Rainbow Trust, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to Holly Willoughby for shining a spotlight on Rainbow Trust’s work by publicising Emma Driver’s wonderful fundraising to support her niece. Rainbow Trust helps more than 2,300 families and we rely almost entirely on the generosity of the public to carry out our vital work. We wish Emma Driver all the very best of luck for her fundraising challenge and we want to thank Emma and Holly for helping us reach out to families needing support caring for their seriously ill child.”

To donate to Emma’s fundraising page click here