Listen to Stephanie Rice's interview with Kyle and JackieO on 2Day FM

Friday 17th April was indeed a great day for the Princess Charlotte Alopecia Foundation as Stephanie Rice, our Beijing Gold medal winner in swimming, was announced as our new spokesperson.

The afternoon started off at 2pm at the Lakeview Convention Centre at Homebush with an introduction by Matt Adamson. Matt was very emotional about his journey with Charlotte when she first developed alopecia, and as we know, he and Rebecca have been the driving force for this foundation ever since.

The main emphasis on this afternoon was the Tresses for Princesses. Three very brave young ladies and one amazing teacher had their long hair cut short to support others who have no hair at all. Both Stephanie and Charlotte took scissors in hand and helped cut off sections of ponytails and plats. Rose, our resident hairdresser finished off the job, cutting the remaining hair into a stylish bob.

Stephanie spoke about her interest in our foundation, and was amazed at the resilience of our young children who cope with such a difficult problem as hair loss. Her support of the PCAF will hopefully spread the word about alopecia and about the positive way people can help by donating their hair.

“I am so proud of Charlotte’s friends donating their hair today,” Stephanie said.

“If I can encourage just a few more people to donate their hair to help Alopecia suffers feel like a prince or princess again, it will be something I will be so proud of.”

Anna Fitzpatrick, an international model from New Zealand, shared her experiences of growing up with alopecia from age 7, and it brought back many memories for the adults in the group that had shared the exact same feelings.

Barry O’Farrell MP, the NSW Liberal Leader, kindly attended our launch, and was most interested to hear about our ongoing battle with the Federal and State Governments about the removal of the GST on medical wigs and our quest for some financial support to help purchase these.

The afternoon was capped off with fine food and refreshments, photo opportunities with Stephanie, as well as catching up with old friends and making new ones.

I hope everyone caught a glimpse of the event on the evening news.

Thank you to all those who were there to support the event, and to those who sent messages of good luck. It was a wonderful success.