NEWTON ABBOT railway station hosted a pop-up barber shop on Monday where men (and women) could get a free haircut, a cuppa and a safe space to chat.

The pop-up barber shop was hosted by The Lions Barber Collective, a Devon based charity aimed at raising awareness for the prevention of suicide, particularly among men, and was run in partnership with Great Western Railway (GWR).

It was one of the first ‘pop-ups’ to be hosted by the collective following a £25,000 grant from GWR.

Alongside ambassadors for The Lions Barber Collective were volunteers from the South Devon branch of the Samaritans, who were handing out leaflets and tea bags to passengers ahead of the charity’s annual Brew Monday campaign on January 17.

Three barbers, trained to recognise signs of poor mental health in their clients, were on hand in the waiting room along platform three to cut hair, trim beards and provide a listening ear.

Torquay-based barber Tom Chapman founded The Lions Barber Collective in 2015 following the death of a close friend.

Recognising that barbers and hair professionals are often a friendly ear to their customers, Tom collaborated with experts to develop a training programme for hair and beauty professionals to support their clients and communities.

The clinically-backed BarberTalk programme gives barbers the skills to direct questions to trigger conversation and to signpost clients to the support they need.

Tom Chapman said:

‘We are fully trained to make people look and feel amazing and most importantly listen with empathy and without judgment to those in the chair

‘This pop-up style of event is a vehicle to connect with the community and start conversations around mental health.

‘Our charity has two goals, to raise awareness and provide outreach through these pop-up style events, public speaking and working with schools and to provide barbers, beauticians and all those involved in this trade with training.’

GWR provided the grant enabling Tom and his colleagues to run the pop-up barber shop off the back of its Communities and Education Programme.

Emma Morris, Community Manager for GWR, said:

‘The Lions Barber Collective carries out vital work in helping to open up conversations around mental health.

‘We believe these pop-up barbershops could be of real benefit to some of our customers and colleagues.’

For more information about The Lions Barber Collective please visit: www.thelionsbarbercollective.com