OUR BACKGROUND | Mr Alex Hairdressing Foundation

THE MR ALEX HAIRDRESSING FOUNDATION

Dedicated to helping disadvantaged persons who wish to establish rewarding careers in hairdressing, we are a national not-for-profit organisation which provides help, guidance, mentoring, financial assistance and training opportunities throughout London and the wider M25 area.

Responding to a need in our local communities and in the hairdressing community – we are focused on providing practical assistance and advice to persons starting out on his or her hairdressing career.

We also offer financial assistance which helps students who are less privileged to enter, start or further their career in hairdressing.

We are fully independent and are here to offer fully impartial advice.

WHAT WE DO

OUR HISTORY

Our organisation was founded in memory of Alex Lilly who was a mature student when he embarked on his dream career of becoming a hairdresser at the age of 33 years old. Being the oldest student in the class, he was given the nickname “Mr Alex”, hence the name was born.

Alex ran a number of highly successful hairdressing salons in Brixton, London and clients travelled from far afield for his services. He specialised in afro hair including scalp analysis, trichology, colouring, chemicals and precision cutting. He was highly successful and also taught, appeared at trade shows and was regularly consulted for his expertise.

In February 1996 Alex was diagnosed with Leukaemia and despite attempts to find a bone marrow match for him, and the efforts by the medical team at the Royal Marsden hospital, he passed away in July 1997 at the age of 49 years.

Alex’s family established a foundation in his name as a fitting legacy to reflect his passion for hairdressing and education, and to help others to follow in his footsteps.

THE MR ALEX STORY

CAN YOU SUPPORT US?

We work tirelessly to raise funds and to increase awareness in order to continue our very important work which supports trainee hairdressers throughout London and the M25 areas. We raise money by:

Offering a range of different fund raising events, to get as many people involved as possible. Please keep an eye on our website for details of our upcoming events.

Receiving generous donations from members of the public. If are interested in our work and can help us in any way – please see the donation section of the website.

Sponsorship from hairdressing companies. Our very generous corporate supporters provide us with assistance in a number of different ways, by offering subsidised courses and hairdressing equipment and products for our grantees, and by providing detailed career advice and placements for those seeking a career in hairdressing.

Please get in touch if you can help us in any way.

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