SUPPLIED/Stuff
The free haircut day was a way for Anchor Barber Shop owner Tammam Tamim, pictured with 7-year-old Temana Horua, to show his gratitude to the community that welcomed his family after they fled the Syrian civil war.
A refugee barber looking to repay the community that gave his family a new home has transformed a Palmerston North whanau centre into a massive free-of-charge barbershop for a day. Anchor Barber Shop owner Tammam Tamim teamed up with community groups WAIORA and Ora Konnect to offer free haircuts at the Highbury Whanau Centre on Monday. Tamim and his family fled the Syrian civil war in 2011, and found a new home in Palmerston North where he started his barber shop in 2019.
Benjamin McQueen-Davies, of Share a Pair NZ, organises the shoes ready for people to grab. People lined up before the shoes arrived, waiting outside the closed doors for their chance to nab some shoes. Benjamin McQueen-Davies, 16, who runs the charity, said it was inspired four years ago by his mother Tania McQueen-Davies, who teaches at a low-decile school in Pahiatua. Children would turn up with no shoes, or shoes with big holes and worn-out soles. She saw there was a need, and would bring shoes in for them to wear. “It’s not something any kid should go through,” Benjamin said.