Salon charity and community initiatives recognised at NHF/NBF awards

Salons doing good work for charities and the community were recognised at the NHF and NBF’s first ever Hair & Beauty Community Awards at the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

Run by the National Hairdressers Federation and the National Beauty Federation (NHF/NBF), the awards were created to recognise the amazing work that goes on in salons nationwide every day to raise money for charity or directly help worthy causes in the local community. 

There were two categories: Fundraising and Community Impact, with one winner and four highly commended salons in each. 

Beauty businesses recognised at the awards event included Beauty with a Conscience, which was highly commended in the Community category. The Glasgow-based social enterprise offers high-quality beauty treatments and work experience to 42 young people in a deprived area, with all the proceeds going to Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. 

Another beauty business, Eden Skin Clinic in London, was highly commended in the Fundraising category for its charity initiatives that raised enough money to give five children operations for cleft lip, cleft palette and other facial deformities. 

Hair salon John Belfield International won the Community Impact award in recognition of its support for mothers and children who are victims of domestic violence. The salon provides clothing, Christmas dinners, trips to the pantomime and farm visits.   

The Fundraising award was won by hair salon The Head Gardener, which raised an impressive £200,000 for the Highland Hospice through activities such as bag packing, hair-a-thons, singing, dancing, cycling and running.

The full line-up of winners is: 

Community Impact
Winner: John Belfield International
Highly commended: 
Spencer Lynch Hair & Beauty
Code Hair Consultants
Deborah Alfa
Beauty with a conscience

Fundraising
Winner: The Head Gardener
Highly commended: 
Skin Deep Hair
Changes Hair Design
Eden Skin Clinic
Lesley McDonald Hair & Beauty

Kelly Tolhurst, Minister for Small Business, Paul Uppal, the Small Business Commissioner, Mark Pawsey and many other MPs attended the event to learn more about the sector and its contribution to high streets. 

NHF/NBF president Agnes Leonard said: “It was a privilege for the Hair & Beauty Community Awards to be attended by Ministers and MPs who were able to gain an insight into the hair and beauty sector. We were blown away by the number of inspirational entries we received which highlighted to us just how much businesses in the hair and beauty industry do for their local communities and for national and local charities.”