Can a haircut change your life?

Joshua Coombes is a London hairdresser who makes a big difference to homeless people's lives. Watch the video to find out more.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Preparation

Video zone: Can a haircut change your life? – preparation

Transcript

Morgan Freeman: I'm in London to meet Joshua Coombes. He's a hairdresser. And he believes small acts of love can make a big impact. Joshua hopes he can help the homeless, not by offering them money or food but by giving them a haircut.

Joshua: The reason I started cutting hair on the street, initially, was actually the magnitude of the problem, like, seeing how big this problem is in each city. It's really hard to know what to do about that. And I think it was from that feeling that I had to impact today. I had to do something positive to make someone smile. And realise that even if you can't solve a problem, actually it's OK to just do your own thing. And for me, that's hairdressing. I love what I do, so it's a great way to be able to give someone confidence.

Joshua: When was the last time you had a haircut?
Stuart: In November last year.
Morgan: So January, February.
Stuart: Five months to March, April.
Morgan: How do you come to be homeless, Stuart?
Stuart: I broke my hip and they stopped my benefits. At the time, I was like, that's stupid. And I was getting involved with drugs and things. I didn't really care. And next thing I knew, they came round and said, 'Right, you're out.' That was 24th of January 2016 and I've been homeless since.

Joshua: You see lots of things with homelessness. And there's lots of stereotypes. And really, what I do is try and humanise this issue. Because, as I said, this problem's so big, I think when you bring it down to one person and tell their story, that's a great way to start and a great way for people to understand.

For me, like, one of the most amazing moments is giving someone the mirror at the end of their haircut because it's great to see someone's reaction because they might recognise someone they haven't seen for a few years.

Morgan: Five, four, three, two, one. Ta-da.
Stuart: I'm 20 years younger. Oh my God.
Morgan: Yeah!
Joshua: Stuart, what do you say?
Stuart: Nobody's going to recognise me.
Joshua: Mate, you're a new man right now.
Stuart: Yeah, thank you.
Joshua: How do you feel?
Morgan: Like a new man.
Stuart: Like a new man.
Joshua: Do you recognize yourself there?
Stuart: Um …