A YOUNG charity supporter fed up with being mistaken for a girl has raised £1,000 by getting his long hair cut off.

Noah Bryant-Pollins has worn his blond hair down to his shoulders for most of his life but in recent months he increasingly found people thinking he was female.

The nine-year-old told his parents Richard Pollins and Kate Bryant he wanted to have a change and cut it off.

However, the youngster from Saltdean was determined to get something positive out of it and decided to raise money for the children’s charity Rockinghorse.

Ms Bryant, who works as a teaching assistant Saltdean Primary, where Noah goes to school, said: “It was all his own idea.

"He spent some time at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton when he was little and so he thought it would be a good to support that and things just went on from there.”

Family, friends, schoolmates and his parents’ work colleagues rallied around and Noah has managed to raise more than £800 on his Justgiving page so far.

A further £200 has come from signed sponsorship sheets and the money is continuing to come in.

Noah had his long locks chopped off at a barber near his home and Ms Bryant says he is delighted with the result.

She said: “He absolutely loves it and says he no longer wants to grow it back. In fact he said next time he might go even shorter.

“I’m left with mixed feelings because I liked his long hair but I’ve kept some of it.

“The reaction from everyone else has been really good and they say how different he looks and how he seems a lot more grown up.”

Noah, who has an older sister Madison who is nearly 13, has already been thinking about doing another fundraiser in the future.

Ms Bryant said: “He quite liked the fact he had done it and the response he got but he is also quite laid back about it all.

“It is a lot of money and we’re proud of him for what he has done.”

Rockinghorse is the official fundraising arm of the Royal Alexandra and also supports the specialist Trevor Mann baby unit at the neighbouring Royal Sussex County Hospital.

To make a donation, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Richard-Pollins.