“How can a patient feel positive and strong when their personal self-image has been rocked to the core by baldness? Giving women back their hair – hair that looks natural, attractive and feminine gives them back a little of their confidence to face the world again. For many of the women I have seen, it’s the missing link in their treatment”
Trevor Sorbie, MBE, Founder My New Hair
Anyone who has experienced medical hair loss will know that the psychological impact of this upon their self esteem can be huge, having a knock on effect on their recovery and also impacting those who are supporting them.
Inspired by his own experience, helping a family member during cancer treatment, Trevor Sorbie launched his charity My New Hair as a not-for-profit organisation in June 2006. Trevor now dedicates all of his salon time to offering advice, and a wig customisation service, to clients suffering from medical hair loss.
Trevor and his team are also working closely with supporting partner L’Oréal Professionnel, running monthly training seminars at the L’Oreal head quarters to build a national network of salons that can pull together, sharing their expertise to offer a best practice service in every region.
Trevor has so far trained almost 200 hairdressers nationally and aims to make the My New Hair service more local to everyone in the UK. The aim is train up to 400 hairdressers across the country to deliver the My New Hair service in salons and healthcare environments and with a grant of £86,500 received from the Department of Health in October 2009, this target is becoming more achievable every day.
The grant has been provided to support the My New Hair team in extending and expanding the programme to provide the following:
- Advanced nurse-led skills training for hairdressers focussing on aftercare relating to hair re-growth post chemo-therapy and communicating with patients
- A comprehensive resource for hair professionals to support the education programme and help them provide effective pre-care and aftercare services for cancer patients
- An educational booklet for patients and healthcare professionals with information on hair loss, wig services and hair re-growth
- Additional support and training to give hairdressers the confidence to deal with the psychological implications and sensitivity issues surrounding wig styling for cancer patients.
Since launching My New Hair Trevor has worked closely with many NHS hospitals and hospices. Most recently My New Hair, has inspired a new project from The North of England Cancer Network to review and improve wig services. This has been heralded nationally as a ground breaking step forward to raise the bar for wig provision and wig services and an NHS “toolkit” featuring My New Hair has been provided to all NHS networks across the country for guidance.
This unique service improvement has ensured that patients across the North East and Cumbria have access to the same quality and service when receiving a wig. It also provides patients with a choice of where they can go, directing them to a number of participating salons across the region, who can supply, fit and personally style wigs for patients. The wig and initial styling will be paid for by the local NHS and is available for all women who have lost their hair for medical reasons including alopecia. Many My New Hair salons in the region tendered for the contract and are helping to deliver this service in partnership with wig suppliers.
The project came about when it became evident, through patient feedback, that there were big differences surrounding the quality of wigs and level of services provided in various parts of the North of England.
“This is the beginning of what will be a challenging but exciting journey with the NHS – we have now helped set the precedent and encourage the rest of the country to follow our lead. My New Hair has given me a whole new dimension to job satisfaction, using my skills to give something back to society and do something truly meaningful, it isn’t about hair, its psychological medicine for women who are suffering hair loss through illness.”
Trevor Sorbie, MBE Founder My New Hair
Money raised by My New Hair is used to provide support and information and also to create awareness of the service. Many of Trevor’s peers have followed suit with fellow hairdressers either offering their services for a nominal fee or the cost of a standard cut and blow dry.
My New Hair also has a dedicated website www.mynewhair.org pinpointing local salons and offering tips for both clients and hair professionals on selecting, customising and caring for wigs.
“My personal goal is also a passionate promise, to make this service accessible to women around the UK and long term the world.”
Trevor Sorbie, MBE Founder My New Hair
