Free haircuts and mental wellbeing advice
Free haircuts and mental wellbeing advice at Glasgow’s St. Enoch Shopping Centre
A new pop-up barber shop is offering free haircuts and male grooming services in Glasgow’s St. Enoch Shopping Centre today (Friday 9th February), in a bid to start important conversations and raise awareness of mental wellbeing among men.
The pop-up is part of the Scottish Government’s Mind to Mind campaign, which supports the mental wellbeing of people in Scotland, in partnership with The Lions Barber Collective, a charity that trains barbers to raise awareness of men’s mental wellbeing.
The one-day pop-up barber shop provides a safe place for men to start important conversations, especially related to their mental wellbeing.
Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said: “Our Mind-to-Mind campaign promotes open conversations about mental health and wellbeing and provides useful tips and stories of how others deal with life’s challenges, as well as signposting relevant helplines and resources for those who need additional or urgent support.
“Looking after your mental health is as important as looking after your physical health and we should all try to take steps every day to help our wellbeing.
“Talking about how we’re feeling can help to lift our mood and allow us to support others. Whether we’re spending time with friends, being active or taking a moment for ourselves, there are lots of things we can do every day to support our wellbeing.”
The Lions Barber Collective, set up by Torquay-based barber Tom Chapman (who lost a friend to suicide) in 2015, are fully trained to recognise and open conversations around mental wellbeing and discuss the support available. They will also highlight how hearing stories of how others have dealt with life’s challenges can have a positive impact.
The Lions Barber Collective Founder, Tom Chapman said: “Barbers are in the very privileged position of having close interaction and relationships with our clients day-in, day-out. Our mission is to help create safe spaces where men in particular feel comfortable to speak about their mental health and to be able to signpost them to support and information.
“That peer-to-peer approach that we adopt, which is behind the Mind to Mind ethos, is really important and we are delighted to have collaborated on today’s pop-up event.
“We look forward to having many open and honest discussions around mental wellbeing as we carry out the haircuts throughout the day.”
Mind to Mind is a website hosted on NHS Inform and encourages people to look after their mental wellbeing by learning what works for others and features real people sharing their own experiences and advice for managing their mental wellbeing. Mind to Mind covers a range of topics such as feeling anxious, stressed, or low, or having problems sleeping or dealing with grief.
The Mind to Mind barber shop is open on Friday 9th February and from 11am – 5pm, on the ground floor of the St. Enoch Shopping Centre.
If you need urgent help for your mental health, you should contact your General Practice team when your practice is open, you can also call the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub anytime on 111 or in an emergency call 999.