"Be the reason someone smiles today."

July 30, 2016 9:04 PM

Joshua Coombes' Instagram mostly consists of before and after photos of the homeless people in London who he provides with free haircuts while they tell him their stories.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy (12 comments total)

Mark Bustos does this too! He's US based and started the #BeAwesomeToSomebody movement. I'll have to see if they've ever worked together. Would be a neat meeting of the minds.
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:19 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

What a nice thing to do. I think even beyond the haircut, it would be soothing just to have human touch and someone who wants to hear what you have to say,
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:30 PM on July 30, 2016 [8 favorites]

I love this kind of thing. Thanks Mr. Coombes.
posted by bongo_x at 10:32 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

I went to the hairdresser in Sydney recently and she got talking about how if she won the lottery, she would open her own salon and provide free haircuts for homeless people. She said she wanted then to be able to experience a little bit of luxury, and human touch, and someone taking care of them. As well as the practical benefits like being more presentable for job interviews.

I hope she does win lotto. It was such a great dream.
posted by lollusc at 10:40 PM on July 30, 2016 [13 favorites]

This is lovely.

Funny; googling the guy he was doing this in Exeter last year. There's a story on him from a local paper, then one day later it's more or less reposted in the mail, then one day later in The Metro. Then a similar pattern repeats this year, but he's up in Clapham. He seems to have been in a band called Tigress at some point, I'd love to read a fuller story on him.
posted by ominous_paws at 11:05 PM on July 30, 2016

This is lovely--thank you for posting it, YSSTOG!

And I hope your hairdresser wins the lotto too, lollusc.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:25 AM on July 31, 2016

Stamping out facism, one visage at a time.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:29 AM on July 31, 2016

This is great. Here's a recent BBC-story about him: Hairdresser for the homeless
posted by Petersondub at 12:45 AM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is a lovely post, thank you.
posted by billiebee at 6:07 AM on July 31, 2016

I love that 99% of the people are smiling in the after photos. They look like they enjoyed the experience and they're at their best, ready to take on the world.

There's only one person who had a shave and major haircut that I think would have benefited by just a minor beard trim and a styling. I would have like that look on him, but if that's what made his day, I'm glad he went for the works. Lord knows my appearance would benefit from having longer hair, but I sure like the no-work styles!
posted by BlueHorse at 1:43 PM on July 31, 2016

This is so truly amazing :)
posted by amil at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2016

Humbled.
posted by On the Corner at 2:10 AM on August 16, 2016