Wear your hair to show young carers you care
We're being asked to come up with a crazy hairstyle and share the pictures on social media
After the huge success of last year, MYTIME Young Carers is back again with weird and wonderful hairstyles for its national Hair2Care campaign.
The Dorset-based charity supporting children and young people caring for family members, is on a mission to make sure the 700,000 young carers in the UK get the appreciation they so deserve.
Tomorrow, Friday 18 February, MYTIME is again asking people to do something different with their hair to show they care, the bolder the better!
Thousands of children across the UK are young carers, meaning they are responsible for looking after a family member who has a disability, illness, mental health condition or who misuses substances, often at great personal cost. MYTIME supports carers as young as five years old, who may be carrying out anything from cooking to doing laundry to physically helping a parent get up and dressed every morning. The responsibility of caring for another person often means these young people miss out on hobbies, seeing friends and other social activities their peers may take for granted.
Penelope Day, Fundraising Director at MYTIME Young Carers, commented: ‘We know that young carers provide invaluable support to their families, but lots of people don’t realise how much they really do, because it happens behind closed doors. Lots of young careers can feel isolated, invisible and lonely because they don’t have much time to see friends or because they don’t feel they can talk about their responsibilities. So, we launched Hair2Care to give young people a day all about them, to show them that people see what they do and appreciate their hard work. And what better way to do that and make sure young carers are seen, than with the brightest, boldest hairstyles possible!’
Last year, MYTIME’s Hair2Care campaign saw thousands of people across the country doing whacky and wonderful things with their hair, from mohawks to coloured wigs, all to shine a light on the work young carers do day in and day out. The campaign made national news and even got the attention of celebrity hairdresser Lee Stafford and EastEnders actor Scott Maslen, who both got involved.
This year, Hair2Care is back and MYTIME plans for it to be bigger than ever. The charity is encouraging everyone at schools, offices, hairdressers, or anywhere else to get involved and share their hairstyles on social media with the #hair2care. Penelope continues: ‘The last Hair2Care day was fantastic, we had gravity-defying cola bottle ponytails, glittered beards, and every hair colour in the rainbow! We can’t wait to see what happens this time! The message for 2022 really is, be bold. Maybe even go bald, like MYTIME’s trustee chair did last year when he shaved his head. Anything goes! It’s all to raise awareness for these wonderful young carers.’
How to get involved
To get involved in the Hair2Care campaign, simply share a photo of your hair on February 18th on social media with #hair2care and donate to MYTIME if you can.
Donations can be made via text: to donate £1, text HAIR to 70201; to donate £5, text HAIR to 70970 or to donate £10, text HAIR to 70191.