Off the Record Youth Counselling support a number of young men through their everyday work but during lockdown, an increased number of young men reported feeling low and rough: they were isolating themselves and not wanting to leave their houses or see their friends because they felt they looked ‘scruffy’ and did not feel confident.
The team at Off the Record decided to create a #NoTrim Challenge, and invited young men to embrace their hair growth by sending in a ‘before lockdown’ picture of themselves (with a fresh trim), and an ‘after’ video embracing their current ‘lockdown look’.
The aim of these images and videos was to help Off the Record create some compilation videos. If the young men were chosen to feature in the videos, Off the Record paid for their first 'post-lockdown' haircut with their own barber.
Local, well-known figures also got involved in the Off the Record #NoTrim Challenge, including:
- Youth Workers and Adolescent Workers
- A known Croydon YouTuber with a large following of young people
- The author of the Amazon best-selling Caribbean cook book
- A Merton barber, who is a pillar in his community
Impact so far
The videos are fun and light-hearted but the initiative had a deeper meaning: it taught young men to embrace their hair growth through positive action, and to support other young men who may be feeling the same way. A fresh trim after lockdown, paid for by Off the Record, was also something for the young men to look forward to.
Enjoy the #NoTrim compilation videos here:
https://www.talkofftherecord.org/no-trim-challenge/
Find out more about the work Off the Record Youth Counselling is doing:
The original case study was written by Chantal Goodridge, BAME Outreach Counsellor, Off the Record Youth Counselling
