Haircuts 4 Homeless: ‘What’s shared in the chair stays in the chair’
Walter and Bernie in the hairdressers’ chairs in the Capuchin Day Centre, Bow St, Dublin, as Trudy Hayes and Trevor Hynes — volunteers with Haircuts 4 Homeless Ireland — set about giving them nice haircuts.
Trevor Hynes waits patiently as his client paces the floor 100 times before finally settling in for a haircut.
The 59-year-old volunteer with Haircuts 4 Homeless Ireland describes the scene with heartbreaking clarity.
Earning the trust of the people who avail of his service has always been hugely important to him.
“Sometimes they speak forever,” he tells the .
“Other times they don’t say a word for months.”
What remains consistent though, is Trevor’s dedication.
It’s been more than 11 years since voters approved the 34th Amendment of the Constitution, making Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through popular vote.
Trevor had vowed at the time to ‘pay it forward’ if the referendum was successful.
It was just the motivation he needed to sign up as a volunteer with Haircuts 4 Homeless Ireland, a charity which provides free grooming services to those in need.
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He has since cut the hair of hundreds of homeless people in Dublin’s Capuchin Day Centre alongside fellow volunteers Monica Gore Laffen, Sinead Gaffney, Janet O’Brien, Trudy Hayes, and Suzie Byrne.
Emma Sharkey, Johnny Doran, and Aisling Barrett also make up the team.
“I just see the people here the same way I see any of the clients who come into the salon where I work. The conversation can be different, obviously, because they’re coming from a completely different perspective.
“But what is shared in the chair stays in the chair. We never discuss any of it or ask questions. However, if they do want to speak, we will listen and talk.”
Trevor, who works in Peter Mark on Grafton St in Dublin, said that hardship often takes a visible toll.
“You’ll often get a client coming in with long, matted hair and a full beard,” he said.
“To look at this person you would assume they are an old man. However, once you cut the hair and the beard right down you can see that there is a young person underneath.
“They might only be around 28 or 30 but the hardship they have experienced, along with their dishevelled appearance, suggests otherwise.”
No two days at the Capuchin Centre are the same for Trevor. “We had one woman come in to us whose hair was down to her waist,” he said. The problem was it was completely matted. We couldn’t get through it with a comb so her only option was to have it all cut off.
“There was nothing else we could do.
“It was sad, because this lady likely had a mental health issue which meant her appearance was no longer a priority.
“This can often be the case in situations like this. What’s worse was how young this woman was. She was only in her late 20s.”
He also spoke about the misconceptions surrounding homelessness.
“Some of them are homeless for entirely different reasons. Mental health often plays a huge part.
“You have to be really patient and make people comfortable in whatever way you can.
“If that means letting them pace the floor over and over again before they sit down to get their hair done, then that’s fine.”
He says they have a lot of regulars who come in all at the same time.
“Sometimes they will go missing for long periods, only to suddenly appear back. This is just the environment we’re in. If they want to share their story that’s fine. If they don’t, this is also okay.
“From time to time, you see a young person coming in. Some might be little more than Leaving Cert age.
“They just seem abandoned. I’m not sure by who, maybe by life.
“You wonder how life brought them here, because you can tell they are from a respectable background.
“It’s clear from their voice that they are quite educated. The young ones tend to stick in your mind.”
Trevor described the Capuchin Day Centre as “full of laughter”.
“It’s amazing to think that there are people out there who have been through so much, yet still have their sense of humour.
“I can remember one man in particular who looked like a model when his hair was finished. I stopped him on his way out and commented that his hair looked absolutely brilliant.
“His reply still leaves me in stitches: ‘I know,’ he said, ‘but I won’t get a fucking shilling on the street. I look too trendy’.”
Communicating with clients can often be challenging.
“We have a lot of older women from places like Ukraine who have found themselves displaced,” said Trevor. “Many don’t speak English, so we have to communicate through the phone with pictures of what they’d like or what they wouldn’t like.
“Usually the photographs are of supermodels. These pictures have become our way of communicating.”
Trevor often finds himself recognised while out on the street.
“Sometimes, I’ll be walking down the street when I’ll suddenly hear somebody shout ‘are you doing any haircuts?’ People often recognise you when you’re out and about.”
Trevor has learned a lot about himself from volunteering.
“It was quite daunting at the start because none of us knew what to expect,” he said. “We probably had a stereotypical idea about homeless people that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The reality is they are just regular, ordinary people. Maybe, in some ways, that’s the most frightening part.”
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