Hair Cafe Salon

HAIR CAFE SALON: HAIR STYLISTS AND BARBERS TEAM UP FOR HAIR TOGETHER TO HELP TEENS STAY IN SCHOOL AND LEARN SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE.

Young people are at risk of leaving school early with low prospect opportunities and grooming into the drug industry locally. Hair Together, in support of Setanta BEST programme, is a community based programme aimed at 14 to 17 year olds from the Ballymun area to provide these teens with hairdressing and barbering skills. The programme is an initiative of Setanta GAA Club and Poppintree Youth Project, working together in the community to give young people a safer transition to adulthood. It aims to teach teens soft skills that can help them develop further into the hair and barbering industry as a career choice. The children involved with Setanta GAA Club and Poppintree Youth Project engage on a weekly basis and Hair Together will engage with them to further develop their skills. Studies have shown that this age group is when young people develop strong relationship with positive

Tony O’Reilly from The Kube and Eileen McHugh from The Hair Cafe Salon Smithfield have voluntarily ran two similar evenings in the past, which has received positive feedback from participants and their parents. The upcoming programme will work with 10 teens over 10 sessions and, due to high demand, future programmes will accommodate more participants. The programme is about the skills these teens will learn. It’s also about community and working together to keep these skills in the local area. Mixing students from Dublin City University and Dublin Institute of Technology with the teens involved has proven to be of a positive influence and may help these teens see the advantages of third level education. Eileen McHugh said: ‘This programme is really close to my heart as I grew up in the same area with similar challenges. My hope is that by participating in this program these teenagers will have a chance to experience something new, have a safe place to explore their creativity and do it together with other peers that they wouldn’t usually mix with. It’s only through experiences like this that we find our talents and passion, when I found mine it opened so many new doors.’

Tony O’Reilly said: ‘Growing up in Finglas and living in Ballymun for many years, it’s very close to my heart and now to be able to give back some of my 12 years experience owning and working in some of the top barber companies in Ireland is a great privilege. With my similar background growing up I’m also in a position to be able to identify with many of the youth we will be working with in Hair Together so I’m very excited and privileged be giving a chance to work with youths on our 10 week course.’ The Hair Cafe Salon Smithfield are one of the programme’s sponsors that are working with The Kube, Old County Barbers, to provide a series of sessions to teach these teens hairdressing and barbering skills. All venues involved are professional salons at the top of the industry, which will add to the experience, and all will be available to the evening programme. There is space for other businesses to help out and sponsor the event. The first session will see the former President of the Irish Hair Federation and House of Colour founder David Campbell give an inspirational talk about the benefits of these skills and an introduction to the course. He will give the basics of working in the industry, such as applying for jobs and getting ahead in the industry. There will be 10 sessions in total with the tenth session allowing the young people involved to unveil their talents in a showcase.

The showcase will take place at the end of the 10 weeks and students from Dublin Institute of Technology will be invited to engage in the event, adding more disciplines to the models. The focus will not be on the end result but on the journey these teens embarked on and the experiences they learned. They will gain new friends, knowledge, and skills that will benefit them in life. For other businesses interested in getting involved with Hair Together and sponsoring the programme, please reach out to secretary. setanta.dublin@gaa.ie and include ‘Hair Together’ in the subject line.