Man with a mirror
The hairdresser offering free cuts to the homeless
Tim Chester
LONDON -- In an underpass outside Charing Cross Tube station in central London, a man is having his hair cut.Several feet under the city streets, which are drenched from spring showers, 35-year-old Jon is getting a trim and having his beard tidied up.However, this is no hairdressing salon, and no money is changing hands. Jon is homeless and he's having his hair cut by a complete stranger for nothing.The man with the scissors is Josh Coombes, who's been roaming the streets of London giving cuts to the homeless since late last year with his photographer friend Matt Spracklen. The pair document their sessions on Instagram under the #DoSomethingForNothing hashtag and are hoping to inspire others to altruistic acts.
Jon has been calling this stark bright tunnel -- all strip lighting, dirty 1980s retro orange tiles and an endless stream of commuters -- home for several years.He shares a duvet with his six months pregnant wife, 28-year-old Stephanie, who he met in the army in Afghanistan. After the pair returned, they struggled to find employment and, having both lost their parents, couldn’t make enough money to keep their home.Jon's broken arm and stitches behind his ear hint at tough times. Sitting on the floor under a black cape, he tells me of his two kids, aged seven and 10, in Scotland that he never sees, and of the struggle to get into a shelter despite the fact Stephanie is heavily pregnant.They're two of some 940 people sleeping rough in London, a number that has grown 27% year-on-year according to recent statistics. That figure is thought to be conservative, and the Greater London Authority said 7,581 slept rough at least once between April 2014 and March 2015. With numbers rising, shelters are struggling to find space.Today, though, Jon can’t suppress a smile. When the cut is finished and a mirror is lifted to his face, he's transformed. He's not exactly a new man -- after all his predicament is unchanged -- but thanks to Josh he's had his spirits lifted.He's not the only one. The tunnel is soon full of people who'd like a beard shave, head trim, or a completely new look.
Phil and Lee from Maidstone each take a turn in the hairdresser’s chair. The pair, who have been friends since they were eight years old, tend to bed down by a local supermarket. They had to move to London at the start of the year, Phil says. "Something happened and we had to leave. It was either that or we'd be in a lot of trouble. I've left that behind now."Their tales are ones of hardship and resilience. Phil loves London, he says he prefers it to Maidstone. People are kinder to the homeless. Although he can count his true friends on one hand, he stays positive, and insists he’ll be using his skills as a painter and decorator for a wage by September.The only time he’s been down, he says, is when he had his sleeping bag stolen. "Whoever did that needs shooting," he declares. "That was the only time in six months I was depressed...""...it was cold and horrible."The pair light up when they see their new haircuts in Josh’s mirror, hooting and cracking jokes. "Ladies form an orderly queue," someone quips. "We’re going out clubbing next week, lots of homeless people," Phil laughs.
Josh carries a small set-up, a few combs and scissors and an electric razor in two small bags, but he creates a big scene. A large crowd gathers as the afternoon progresses, good-natured banter echoing down the inhospitable hallway.Amid coughs and cackles and the incessant reminder over the public address system that a "good service is operating on all London Underground lines," the gang remark on each other's transformations.Each cut cheers up the recipient but there's a broader effect on the group. Someone's paying attention. Someone cares. Josh's easy and relaxed manner, his open ear and arms and his respectful camaraderie, puts everyone at ease.
Policemen pass by and just ask that the cuttings are swept up. Several people oblige, brushing hair away with pieces of a cardboard box. A woman loaded down with shopping asks what they're up to. Free haircuts for the homeless, they tell her, part of a "Do something for nothing" campaign."I'll tell you what you can do for nothing," she responds curtly. "You can clean all this mess up."Her reaction is striking because it’s so unexpected. The response is usually far different. In fact, Josh and Matt both tell me they're often inundated with offers of help from passersby.
The duo were finding so much interest in the project that they decided to take it further online. In late 2015, to inspire likeminded people, they teamed up with Dave Burt, CEO of digital agency Be Social Global and owner of the @London account on Instagram.The result was a #DoSomeThingForNothing meet-up in London in April, which saw hundreds of people congregate to do -- as you might have guessed -- something for nothing.The small acts of kindness ranged from helping a man sell his issues of The Big Issue to buying a flower or a coffee for a stranger. A bigger event is planned for July 9 with more details coming via the hashtag. A global event is slated for later in 2016.
"The event side is to give people a route in," Josh says, "change the thought process, shift someone's mentality a bit." The effect on the public that have been involved has been palpable, Dave says. "One woman said she couldn't underestimate how profoundly it changed her," he remembers. "She had her own issues, she struggled with depression. By focussing her energy on helping others, it totally lifted her."At Charing Cross, Josh's razor doesn’t have much battery life left, but there are still several people up for a cut.
A man in a hoodie called Zack has a hefty beard hacked down to more manageable stubble. Another man from Amsterdam, who has been homeless for two months and ekes out an existence from work at a carwash, gets his head shaved. "Jason Statham," he exclaims, by way of a review.
The atmosphere is friendly, but there's an edge. Occasionally banter breaks out into aggression among some members on the periphery. One man is swigging on a two-litre bottle of clear liquid and others are smoking Spice.The synthetic cannabis substitute was banned along with other legal highs in May but it's easily obtainable, and the bane of many of their lives."It's worse than heroin. And you can buy it from a shop," one person tells me. "I'm sick in the morning if I don’t have it. The worse thing I ever done is get on that shit."The withdrawals are horrendous, he says, and it apparently runs as cheap as £6 ($8.70) a gram. "I walked to Soho this morning and bought out the shop. It folded me up, chewed me up and spat me out."
As a family walks down the tunnel between us, the father reaching out to clutch his young daughter's hand tightly as they pass, an Irish woman gets ready for her cut. She's just nipped into McDonald's to wet her hair and she's excited for a new look ahead of her birthday at the weekend.She also needs hers done in a hurry, as she says she's moving on from this part of London. She's been in an argument with her partner, who is currently in hospital, and tells me she’s "fucking scared" for her own welfare. 'I need to leave here, I don’t feel very safe," she says.Afternoon turns to early evening and the passage starts to fill with commuters. There are several more people waiting for a cut, but Josh’s clippers are down to their last legs. Not to worry, he tells the remaining people looking for a cut. He'll be back tomorrow.