A popular Cape Town barber known for ploughing back into the community is set on building barber shops in different areas as a way to help mense.
Warren Theunis, originally from Mitchells Plain, has been in the industry for more than 21 years and is the founder of Groomed for Change, providing free haircuts to the elderly.
Usually, Theunis joins the Heart FM 16 Days for Youth initiative and travels across the province giving haircuts to all.
Last year, Theunis did 547 haircuts during the initiative.
But, as he was preparing to sharpen his clippers for another trip, the team approached him and said they wanted to do something different.
“I proposed that I would train and equip young people to do basic barbering and use the trade to build the resources they need for their dreams,” Theunis said.
The idea to set up barber shops came to him during a visit to the Realistic Child and Youth Centre in Crawford, and he approached management to ask for a space.
“I was shown a space between the laundry room and what was used as storage. I decided it could be cleaned up and used,” he said.
“I had no budget but I was going to do it. It was not going to be anything fancy, but functional.
“At the weekend, my daughter and I went to Builders Warehouse and created a sort of wish list of how and what we wanted.”
The boys helped by sanding down walls, and outlining everything with masking tape. In between, Theunis taught them proper barbering techniques.
He has now identified three other areas – Athlone, Strandfontein and Parkwood – where he wants to set up barbershops.
He also hopes the shops can help communities sustain, for example, their soup kitchens.
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