Irish youth mental health charity aims to fundraise with ‘bad hair days’

With no hairdresser or barber to take care of people’s locks during the Covid-19 outbreak, an Irish youth mental health charity is asking them to have a Bad Hair Day for Jigsaw.

Jigsaw is the national centre for youth mental health and it has been helping young people across the country cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. At the ​end of last month it had seen a 400pc increase in demand for its online services since the Covid-19 crisis began. Jigsaw temporarily suspended all face-to-face services on 12 March and moved everything online based on public health advice.

Now the charity is encouraging people to ‘shave it off, embrace those natural curls, cut a fringe, attempt a home dye or cover up with a wig and share to show you care.’

“We are all in isolation, learning to adapt to new ways of working, learning and playing,” it said. “But the one thing we are not quite getting to grips with is our hair. We are putting our trust in our family members, housemates and partners or taking matters into our own hands and the results are, well, interesting.

“If you’re not going to be leaving the house (and we know you are not!) then you can brave a Bad Hair Day for Jigsaw, be proud of that bowl cut, debut that uneven fringe or show off those roots with pride, share and show you care by donating to the campaign or if you are going all out set up a sponsorship page to raise vital funds for Jigsaw during this period of isolation. It’s not a bad day, it’s just a bad hair day.”

Jigsaw got some royal support earlier this year when Prince William and Kate Middleton paid the charity a visit as part of their trip to Ireland.