HJ VOICENOTES

KAYE SOTOMI

14.4 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UK ARE LIVING IN POVERTY. THESE ARE EVERYDAY PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS

We started the ‘Cutting for a Cause’ campaign in August 2023 as a response to the cost of living crisis.

Supermarkets and oil and energy companies are all reporting record profits – but 14.4 million people in the UK are living in poverty. These are everyday people that have been affected by the cost of living crisis.

Pensioners, single parents, people on welfare, those with adverse mental health, people in debt… we have partnered with charities so we can give our hairdressing services to people who need help right now.

The chance that you’ve walked past someone today living in poverty is pretty high. We have been through the pandemic, Brexit, all set against the decline of the high street, so I kept thinking how do we, as a business and pillar of the community, take care of one another? It’s important to us that people aren’t made to feel ashamed. We want people to have a level of dignity, and saying ‘pay what you can afford’ gives people that.

As a business owner I have felt the impact of the cost of living on business, there’s a reduction in both clients and appointments. Hairdressers must adapt to these changing times and work to provide options for clients.

We work to get services to those that need it. For example, Food Cycle target people in their database who come in to have hot meals. We run the events in two ways – firstly as pop ups where people know in advance that we’ll be at a charity or council event, secondly we encourage people to come into the salon and donate what they can for an appointment via our Just Giving page.

We’ve also run events with charities like Smart Works, which helps to give women the confidence they need to secure employment. For those guests it’s not 'just a haircut', it’s what could set them apart from people they are up against in job interviews or when they're looking to rent a flat. For example in the London borough of Hackney, they're likely competing with young professionals in the rental market – so a haircut could genuinely give them the self-esteem boost they need to set themselves apart.

In the future I want to get more salons to join the Cutting for a Cause campaign and connect them with local charities. Bumble and bumble sponsor us with products, which is an enormous support. As a business we are committed to giving back to our community, now and in the future.