RAINBOW ROOM TEAMS UP WITH CHILDREN’S CHARITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING

Award-winning salon, Rainbow Room International, are partnering with Action for Children, a charity that protects and supports children and young people.

The collaboration will see Action for Children delivering training to Rainbow Room International Directors, management and salon teams, focussing on Mental Health.

Rainbow Room International will provide a group of youngsters from the Action for Children charity with hairdressing training to help them achieve a level 1 qualification in hairdressing over an 8-10 week period.

The staff training includes First Aid for Mental Health SCQF Level 5, to identify signs of mental health distress and provide advice and starting a supportive conversation.

Salon staff have also taken part in online training developed by NHS Health Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland Ask Tell Save a Life: Every Life Matters.

This is designedto support suicide prevention and raise awareness of the issues which can sometimes lead to someone thinking about taking their own life.

In June, the salon will welcome a small group of youngsters from the Action for Children charity to start their hairdressing level 1 qualification.

At the end of the 8-10 weeks session, the young people will receive certificates and will have a portfolio of work allowing them to progress in their hairdressing career if they wish.

All youngsters will also get the opportunity to take part in work experience throughout the training period to further adapt their hairdressing skills and give them more confidence being in a hairdressing environment.

Leigh Kerr (pictured), Rainbow Room International Academy Director, commented: “Our priority this year, particularly after the effects of the pandemic, is to focus on the mental wellbeing of our teams.

“The training provided by Action for Children has been invaluable, allowing us to be a lot more knowledgeable on mental health and how we can help and support ourselves, our teams and our clients.

“We now have 12 fully qualified Mental Health First Aiders.

“We also look forward to welcoming the youngsters and helping them to achieve their Level 1 Qualification in hairdressing.”

Paul Carberry, Action for Children Director for Scotland, said: “We are proud to launch this collaboration with Rainbow Room International.

“We know one of the major fallouts of Covid-19 has been the negative impact on people’s mental health. It is our hope that this partnership will allow more people to be able to talk about their mental health, often an important first step.”