Hair salon teams up with cancer charity

A BEAUTY salon has teamed up with a cancer charity to give specialist advice for people dealing with hair loss.

People affected by cancer can get expert support and advice on hair and wig care at Toni & Guy in South Street, Dorchester in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support.

Steve Clark, manager at Toni & Guy, said: “Recently we have had more and more clients coming in who have been affected by cancer so we decided to offer this extra service so they can come here and get away from their problems.

“Going for a haircut is such a normal thing for most people and a lot of people lose their confidence when they lose their hair.

“We’ve found that people don’t know what route to take because nothing like this has been done in salons before.”

The salon is one of 102 across the country to take part in the new Strength in Style scheme, last month staff from the Dorchester salon went on a training course to help them deal with the emotional and practical issues surrounding the sensitive nature of hair loss and hair thinning due to cancer treatment.

Mr Clark said: “The training went into the different types of cancer and chemotherapy and the stages people go through.

“It’s important to pick up on things like that because people often don’t want to talk about it because they think it’s awkward.

“We also learnt about wig cutting, temporary hair loss and hair thinning and personalisation of wigs to make them more trendy.

“Some people find if they are in a busy salon it can be quite intimidating having a lot of other people around so we have a smaller, more private room available if they want to keep it personal.”

Staff in the Dorchester salon will also be fundraising throughout the year to raise money to help Macmillan.

Caroline Peppin, spokesman for Macmillan, said: “This a fantastic scheme aimed at tackling an important issue associated with cancer treatment, while helping to improve the individual’s confidence.”

Macmillan provides essential information, expert medical care, financial help and emotional support for people diagnosed with cancer, as well as their family and carers.

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