Thanks for visiting this fundraising page for Totnes Caring. Before you donate, let me tell you why we have chosen to do this...

When I first started out in business ten years ago I was really wary of using my name as my hairdressing brand. It was a brave move that was ultimately worth it, as customers testimonials grew, and we began to deliver individual customer focused hair services in Totnes. I soon understood that my unique selling point was our personal commitment to overall wellness and health. I kept the salon vibe quiet for a really long time, and focused on staff training and delivering a great colour and cut service, relying on video images in the salon to entertain, instead of the usual loud hairdressing banter! I realised that for many people, a visit to the hairdressers is more than just a colour or a haircut. Growing older can bring new and difficult challenges that can be frightening to deal with in public. 

We are sometimes the first contact after customers experience a long illness or when they go out again after being home-bound for some time.

Even though I have lived in central Totnes for 30 years now, ten years ago when setting up the business  I felt like a real newcomer to a new town. As I developed my customer services with a core team of staff, I began to realise just how much old and new customers alike love to talk; stories abound about their lives while they are sitting around waiting for their colour to take. Laughter and positivity are key concepts for building business and I learned how a hairdresser’s storytelling can become a more positive and enjoyable way of communicating in a small personal-public setting.

There is one special kind of hair appointment that I will always make time for and enjoy; one that has always stood out as being at the heart of a good natter, great storytelling and an appointment important to sustain. This is when elderly people are brought to the salon by their carers so they can have a hair treatment. 

Elderly customers appointments can mean so much to them, especially when some have mobility or other difficulties. So right from the start of the business I heard a lot about Totnes Caring as people relied on volunteers or Bob the Bus to get to our salon. In fact, sometimes we got to know the carers too, and they and their families became customers.

So it makes sense for our tenth anniversary of trading as Gill Goddard Hair to partner with Totnes Caring which is celebrating 30 years. Eight years ago my mum became ill with Alzheimer's while I carried on working at developing the business. She loved getting her hair done too, and visited the salon quite a few times. But she had memory lapses until she no longer recognised me, and then we needed the volunteers in mum’s area in Kent, the social service team and the NHS to help us care for her until she died last year. 

Mum lived until she was an amazing 95. We are so proud of the way we pulled together. I am very lucky to have a big family and friends but some people live alone. 

I found there was no organisation of support in mum’s area like Totnes Caring. All the public services and people who cared for my mum were fantastic but in my experience, Totnes Caring provides an additional layer of support that many find invaluable.

During the last ten years we have supported Totnes Caring with charity events in the salon. My staff love a party and so on our anniversary this year we had a sixties hair theme in the salon. We hope you enjoy our pictures below!

Please celebrate your great or bad hair days by making a donation (every pound really does count) to Totnes Caring and send us your sixties style selfies!

Thanks for reading all this, and thank you for your donation. It's really important to us and Totnes Caring! Gill x