Barber Project

The Barber Project seeks to help barbers from African, Caribbean, and South Asian backgrounds improve their confidence with the mental health conversations many of them are having with their customers.

We aim to work with barbers to develop training videos tackling different mental health topics that might come up in barbershops. This will create safer communal spaces in barbershops which helps tackle the health inequalities faced by men from African, Caribbean, and South Asian backgrounds.

We rely on the rapport-building skills barbers generally have and their ability to build long-term and trusting relationships with their customers. Barbershops are generally considered to be a community hub and a place of belonging. Because of this, men from the above-mentioned diverse communities tend to have good relationships with their barbers. Through this project, we hope a significant number of men from these communities will be reached.

Our work is informed by barbers, and we have a small group of Barbers contributing their ideas and testimonials to the training videos. The videos aim to provide practical guidance for spotting poor mental health, having sensitive conversations, barber self-care and information on common mental health conditions and signposting to support.

Our Project Coordinator will work closely with barbers across Leeds and Bradford to circulate the videos in these areas.

If you are a barber in Leeds or Bradford, we’d love to hear about your experiences through this short survey https://forms.office.com/e/0QTTsLzZWw

If you’re a barber or work with barbers and are interested in getting involved with the Barber Project or receiving updates on the training videos, please contact barbers@leedsmind.org.uk