Harehills, Leeds: A secret oasis disguised as a hair, beauty and aesthetics clinic

We take a look inside Hair and Glitz on Compton Road in Harehills who work in partnership with Homeless Street Angels.

Transcript

00:00When we see images of hair hills, often they relate to rubbish, loitering and last year's riots.

00:10Whilst these did really shake up one of Leeds' most deprived neighbourhoods,

00:16what we often don't see is the real heart of the community that lies within.

00:23Hair and Glitz looks like a normal aesthetics, beauty and hair salon.

00:30But really, this is a secret community centre.

00:35They're a one-stop shop for lots of people's needs.

00:39They're all about wellbeing, looking good, feeling yourself, they don't judge anybody around here

00:45and they also help with a lot of our clients to help do treatments on them, rebuild their lives

00:51and food parcels, everything like that.

00:54And we get a lot of clients passed on from them as well.

00:57What's Hair Hills like as an area?

01:00It's quite run down, there's quite a bit of poverty.

01:05We have quite a few people sleeping rough in Hair Hills.

01:09A lot of people can't afford to eat in Hair Hills so we supply food parcels to a lot of people around here.

01:15It's like a hub in Hair and Glitz.

01:18They come and they talk about the problems, they get help and it's just a little community.

01:24I think everyone pulls together more than anything after the riots.

01:28It is a good community and people look out for each other in Hair Hills.

01:34They all care for each other around here, which it has got a bad rep,

01:40but the people are true and the people are honest.

01:44Sophie Mayline-May-Lynn reporting from Hair and Glitz in Hair Hills, Leeds.