Suicide prevention training offered to Liverpool hairdressers and beauticians
It's to help recognise when people are suffering and how to respond
Suicide prevention training is being offered to hairdressers, barbers and beauticians across Liverpool.
Lions Barber Collective has teamed up with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, with funding from Liverpool City Council.
Two half-day sessions are being offered at the People's Place on Spellow Lane on Monday 2 October.
Mersey Care's lead for the Liverpool partnership, Dr Claire Iveson, said:
"We all have an important role to play in helping to recognise the signs and help prevent suicides.
"The hair and beauty industry see a wide range of people daily and clients often confide in them; I hope that stylists and beauticians who attend the training will feel better equipped and more confident to have conversations about mental health and to signpost clients to services which can support them."
The Lions Barber Collective founder, Tom Chapman, said:
"Our aim is to create safe places for people to go and talk about the issues they have with the people they trust, breaking the taboo and showing the world that it is ok to be not ok and to share their problems without fear of judgement."
Co-director of Oriol Close Barbershop in Liverpool, Neil Palin, said:
"I’m a mental health first aider and I know barbers and beauticians are great listeners and people open up to them in a way they wouldn’t do with family and friends.
"It’s important to understand how to respond when people share their thoughts about low mood and depression; choosing the right words can have a massive impact on a person.
"We’re proud to be a safe place for all. For example, we pride ourselves on being an LGBTQ+ friendly barbershop and many people have chosen to come to us for their first gender-affirming haircut.
"I would encourage all hairdressers, barbers and other beauty aesthetics professionals to take up the offer of free training, to help recognise when people are suffering – and to know how to respond."