2018 Shaping Futures volunteers reunite to celebrate raising £21,000
Hairdressers from across the UK reunited at Janet Maitland Hair Excellence in Durham, to celebrate a year of success as Shaping Futures’ volunteers.
The stylists spent the summer teaching disadvantaged young people in the Philippines and Vietnam how to cut and colour hair, as part of Schwarzkopf Professional’s charitable initiative.
Case study: Merly, a Shaping Futures participant in the Philippines, “If it wasn’t for SOS Children’s Village and Shaping Futures, our family’s future might not have any direction at all. Perhaps we would still be having the ‘bahala na [come what may] mentality’ without aspiring more for the future of our children and without valuing the essence of planning. We might have remained clueless on how to improve our economic status through a livelihood which can help us support the needs of our family.”
The Shaping Futures trips, which took place throughout August and September, saw UK hairdressers travel to SOS Children’s’ Villages in the Philippines (Lipa) and Vietnam. They taught 40 young people hairdressing techniques, enabling them to develop skills and confidence to build a life away from poverty for themselves and their families.
During the reunion the volunteers and UK Ambassador, Janet Maitland, celebrated raising over £21,000 - the highest amount ever raised by a team for Shaping Futures.
Commenting on the reunion, Janet Maitland said: “We have had the most fantastic year for Shaping Futures. Not only did we manage to send two groups of hairdressers to help disadvantaged young people secure a future for themselves, away from poverty and hardship; but we also raised a staggering £21,173 through fundraising activities and donations, to ensure the future success of this initiative.
“Next year we’ll be celebrating 10 years of Shaping Futures and in that time we’ll have helped close to 300 individuals. Since September, our students in the Philippines have all gone onto to work for a local salon group, David’s Salons. This is just tremendous and a credit to the strength of the initiative and Schwarzkopf Professional, the passion of the young people involved and the brilliant teaching of our UK volunteers. I am so proud.”
The 2018 volunteers
Shaping Futures 2018 reunited
(Back L-R) Diane Fulton, Janet Maitland, Raj Sethi Bamra, Indy Burmi, Lesley Maher and Barbara Deakin.
(Front L-R) Armando Colucci, Aleksandra Bobrova, Sarah Franklin.
- Janet Maitland: UK Ambassador for Shaping Futures and owner of Janet Maitland Hair Excellence, Durham - Philippines
- Annabelle Taylor: Stylist, Edward & Co., Brighouse - Philippines
- Lauren Scott: Salon Director, Austen Thomson Hair, Edinburgh - Philippines
- Raj Sethi Bamra: Director, Indy Hairdressing, Leicester - Philippines
- Indy Burmi: Co-owner, Mewies and Indy, Quorn, Leicestershire- Philippines
- Barbara Deakin: Manager, Top Cut Hairdressing, six salons in the North and Midlands - Philippines
- Sarah Franklin: Owner, The Hair Shops, Aberdeen. This is her second time volunteering for Shaping Futures - Philippines
- Jacqui Lowes: Owner, J Lowes Hair & Beauty, salons in St Helens and Billinge – Vietnam
- Lesley Maher: salon owner, Dublin - Vietnam
Shaping Futures is a global initiative run by Schwarzkopf Professional, supported by the Fritz Henkel Stiftung, where hairdressers from different countries partner with SOS Children’s Villages around the world to teach the career building skills of hairdressing.
