Fresh after winning the title of Barber of the Year at the prestigious Barber Craft SA competition last month at Muizenberg civic centre, where professional barbers from all over the country compete to be crowned the best barber in South Africa, Hadley Block is giving back to the community in the best way he knows how.
Hadley, 28, hails from my hometown, Steenberg.
His barber career started 10 years ago and his passion for the art of cutting hair saw him developing into the professional barber that he is today.
A funny story that illustrates life’s little ironies is about when I was two-months-old I had my first haircut (according to my mom), at the very same barber (different management) where Hadley has been working for the past decade.
I still cut my hair there. So it’s a pretty full circle moment for me every time that I sit in that chair.
On Wednesday November 6, Hadley gave back to the community in a way that he knows best – a haircut – which might seem simple to others, but means the world to a homeless man.
The Street People’s Programme, an initiative by the City of Cape Town, allows those less fortunate to enjoy a free haircut, and who better to do this job other than the best barber in South Africa?
Scores of people flooded the Muizenberg civic centre where the event took place,
and I’m sure they left feeling like a brand-new person. It’s a guy thing. A haircut gives you super confidence. Vra jou
man.
Mr Block certainly takes the phrase “a cut above the rest” to a whole new level.
You can find Hadley Block at Nordiens Barber Shop and Salon in Military Road, Steenberg. Tell him I sent you.
* Chad Anthony Williams is a freelance journalist, proofreader and copywriter who lives in Rondebosch East, but who is originally from Steenberg. This article first appeared on his blog at https://chadanthonywilliams.wordpress.com/