Christmas Day, St James Park

Christmas Day 2020. The pandemic had stripped everything back. No services, no drop-ins, no soup kitchens running at full capacity. For a lot of people on the streets, it was just another day — but a colder one.

Eddie called five people. They said yes. By 10am they were set up at St James Park in Bath city centre — scissors, clippers, a little generator, and a volunteer doing nails and hand massages.

They cut thirty heads of hair between 10am and 1pm.

One woman asked for a fringe. She hadn't had a haircut in months. She sat quietly while it was done, then looked up at the mirror. She didn't say much. But her face changed.

"It was a really special day," Eddie said afterwards. "The homeless had it particularly tough that year. For a lot of them it was their first human contact in weeks. We weren't there to do charity. We were there to spend Christmas with people who needed company."

Thirty haircuts. Six volunteers. One cold morning.

That's all it takes.

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