Visiting a London barbershop could save your life – don’t delay!
Londoners are being urged to visit eight barbershops who recently started offering free blood pressure tests to their customers. In April a UK-first project run by London South Bank University (LSBU), Croydon BME Forum and Off The Record trained eight barbers who have customers from around Croydon to provide on-the-spot blood pressure checks.
The London barbershop health project aims to reach Black and Asian men who have undiagnosed high blood pressure. It is inspired by a successful health project in Los Angeles barbershops which led to 68% of those diagnosed with high blood pressure in barbershops leaving the study with healthy blood pressure levels.
Around 30% of men in the UK currently have high blood pressure, around half of these are not diagnosed or receiving treatment. High blood pressure is the third biggest cause of disease in the UK, leading to heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease costing the NHS £2billion every year.
The eight London barbers who are providing blood pressure tests are: Da Ace Of Fades (Thornton Heath), The Barber Shop (Croydon), Finishing Touches (Mitcham), Yian the Barber (South Norwood), Cutter Hair Doctor (South Norwood), J & D Doyleys (Thornton Heath), House of Bertrand (Bromley), and Juls The Hair Klinik (Mitcham).
Charles Onwuka from Da Ace of Fades barbershop, said, “We’re proud to be one of the eight London barbershops who are giving great haircuts and offering our valued customers on-the-spot blood pressure tests. High blood pressure is a silent killer, it usually doesn’t have symptoms so getting a test from one of the eight London barbershops could save your life.”
Debi Roberts, Project Coordinator at Croydon BME Forum said, “For the first time in the UK, barbers are offering testing to their customers to find out if they have high blood pressure and giving advice about how to reduce it. But sadly like many businesses over the last year, barbershops are seeing fewer customers as a result of the pandemic. Today we’re calling on Londoners to visit one of the brilliant eight London barbershops to support your local business, get a great haircut and a free blood pressure test. It could save your life or reduce the chance of you suffering from a heart attack, stroke or kidney disease.”
The eight Croydon barbershops who taking part in the UK-first project to provide blood pressure checks for their customers are:
- Da Ace Of Fades - 786 London Rd, Thornton Heath, CR7 6JB - @da_ace_of_fades
- Finishing Touches - 72 Monarch Parade, Mitcham, CR4 3HB - @barbrcris
- Yian the Barber - 15 Portland Rd, South Norwood, SE25 4UF - @yianthebarber
- Cutters - 52 Portland Rd, South Norwood, SE25 4PQ - @cutter_hairdoctor
- J & D Doyleys - 5 Brigstock Rd, Thornton Heath, CR7 7JE - @HowietheBarber
- House of Bertrand - 153 Capstone Rd, Bromley, BR1 5NR - @houseofbertrand
- The Barber Shop, 9 St James Rd, Croydon, CR0 2SB
- Juls The Hair Klinik - 6 Laing Corner, Mitcham, CR4 2JA - @julsthehairklinik