An ex-soldier who has turned into a barber has started his own foundation and helps homeless people by offering free haircuts as well as trains them up and gives them jobs in his shops.
Ged King, from Manchester, decided to start his own business after leaving the army and opened up a barber shop in Sale. But he felt something was missing and he took a camping trip to the Lake District to spend some time away from the city and eventually realized what he wants in his life.
Speaking to LADbible, Ged said: “I’m somebody who has had a very turbulent life, I’ve had lots of ups and downs, I’m an ex-soldier and I always wanted to be a business owner.
“I got there, it took a long time to get my life straight and when I got there and created my barber shop I was very unfulfilled. I wasn’t very happy and I couldn’t understand why I’ve been chasing this thing for so long and felt that it wasn’t right.”
“It wasn’t enough to run my business and earn money, so I decided to put an advert out on our social media saying if you’re homeless, you can come to the shop to use our services for free, and also if you’re unemployed and you’ve got a job interview you can do the same thing.point 381 |
You can come in, get tidied up and we wish them luck with their job interview.point 63 | 1
“And I’m proud to say we’ve got loyal customers now who we first met when they were unemployed and now they’re working and they stick with us.”
The first person who took Ged’s offer had lived in a tent by the Manchester Ship Canal for two years and got to know about the scheme by a dog walker.
Ged explained: “It was a nice day for him and it what it did for me was ridiculous. This void that I had felt, I’d finally worked it out and so I decided I wanted to do more of it. It was that contribution that was missing in my life when I was just running the business.”
He started Skullfades Foundation and Street Cuts by giving a haircut to the homeless people in the public area. It started as a weekly event in Manchester and now takes place nationwide, with Ged and his ‘tribe’ heading out to London, Birmingham. They even visit refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk.
Ged’s team has given 3,000 haircuts for free, the equivalent of £48,000 ($63,000). He has now opened two shops in south Manchester.
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