A Merseyside barber has drawn praise from his community after offering free haircuts for children whose parents are struggling to pay.
Mark Donaldson of Barbers No.1 in Kirkby said he decided to offer the service after noticing some local parents were struggling to afford regular haircuts for their children.
A Facebook post advertising the service said: "Once a month starting this Sunday I’ll be doing a day of free haircuts for 0-16 year olds upstairs in Barber’s No1 Kirkby town centre.
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"This is aimed at parents that struggle paying for regular trims so please don’t comment if you are more than capable of doing that, there are 12, 30min appointments for Sunday 10am-4, first come first serve."
The 25-year-old told The ECHO: "We get a lot of children coming in with hair that may not have been cut for six months
"We have kids we do in September before they go back to school and won’t see them again until Christmas. I believe a lot of the time it is, because they can’t afford regular haircuts.
"We have parents ask how much for a child I’ll say £10 an they will go elsewhere to find it a bit cheaper."
Yesterday (Sunday February 26) was the first day the day of free haircuts for 0-16 year-olds was offered, and the plan is Marc will offer this once a month for parents truly in need.
After being advertised on Facebook, the slots were quickly booked up.
On his reasons for offering the service, Marc, who has been working at the barbers for four years said: "A fresh haircut is a huge confidence boost to a child, as it is to myself, after a long overdue trim I believe they will go to school feeling much better about themselves."
Some parents were keen to express their thanks to Marc and Barbers No1.
The mother of a three-year-old who had their haircut by Marc yesterday said: "I have never had such amazing experience with a barbers.
"Marc was amazing with my son very patient and welcoming my sons hair looks amazing and I am do grateful for Marc's time."
Another parent, Sara Reid Peers said: "I want to say how amazing it is, Marc doing the hair cuts for free. It's meant so much to me. [My son Conner] has autism so it was good for him to do it."
Barbers No1 can be found in Kirkby Shopping Centre on St Chads Parade. Slots can be booked through Instagram at @Marc_barbersno1 and are on a first come first serve basis.
