A 12-year-old girl from Ardens Grafton has shaved her head to raise money for the Chinese orphanage her four-year-old sister came from.

Susannah Grumball, who attends Alcester Grammar School, wanted to do something to help all the children she had to leave behind when her family brought Rui Rui home from Tianjin in northern China.

Rui Rui, who was only two at the time, had multiple holes in her heart and her only hope was an operation in this country, which the world renowned heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub offered to perform.

The operation was a success and the Grumball family are in the process of adopting Rui Rui, but Susannah wanted to do something for the handicapped children still at the orphanage.

She decided to raise sponsorship by having her head shaved and set herself goals - if she raised £100 she would have it cut short; £300 and she would have it all shaved off; and £500 and she'd have a picture painted on her bald head.

So far she has promises of more than £1,200 and last Thursday she had her head shaved and had three temporary tattoos, two Chinese symbols and a butterfly, put on her scalp.

Her father Kevin, who first went out to the orphanage in 2000 with his eldest son, Jonathan, to do voluntary work, said: "A lot of Susannah's friends were begging her not to shave all her hair off but she was brave and determined to do something for the orphans."

Anyone who would like more information or would like to donate money should visit Susannah's website at www.hackhair.com