Hudson & Kemp
The Heart of the Community
One Thursday afternoon we got a call from Alex at Hudson & Kemp. She had two cancelled hair appointments for the next day and wanted to offer them to a couple of our clients, free of charge.
After this call, the whole office erupted into a long conversation about just how fantastic Alex and her team are to The Nightingale and our clients.
With all they do for us, we wanted to sit down with Alex and ask why she chose to support The Nightingale and why helping people in her community is so important to her.
“I knew about The Nightingale because one of my clients volunteered as a receptionist. As it happened, she was moving away and my mum had just moved to Enfield and my client mentioned that maybe that was something my mum would like to do. It kind of worked perfectly. From there it became natural that we would support you.”
Since then, Hudson and Kemp have been big supporters of ours, donating services, items for raffles, holding their own raffles and bake sales. Our biggest yearly collaboration is the Nightingale Fashion Show.
When Fiona first asked if Alex and her team could help us with the Fashion Show, her response came quickly, “100% whatever you want us to do.”
The rest is history. We couldn’t imagine our Fashion Show without Hudson & Kemp. They are so generous with their time.
“It’s nice to be able to do something we’re good at and use it for our community. On our side it’s also a community effort.
I call up all my reps and ask them to donate products to make up a goody bag for the models, which they all love doing and wait for the call every year. Our clients know about the Fashion Show too, so they wish us luck and look forward to seeing the pictures afterwards. All the staff love it!
We’re the first people the models see on the day, so they’re a bit nervous when they come in but by the end, we’re all laughing and joking around. It’s just fun!”
Being in Alex’s company you can feel how much she cares; she is so passionate about using her skills and knowledge to help people in any way she can. I asked her why giving back to the community is so important to her.
“My staff and I are all part of the Enfield community in different ways, we’re either from here or live here. This is our community outside of business and we bring that into work. It wouldn’t be a very enjoyable job if it was just people come in, sit down and we cut hair.
The salon has been there 34 years in May and my staff have all worked with me for a long time, in between 10 and 30 years. Community is the heartbeat of what we do. We wouldn’t have been here for so long if it wasn’t.
In the big scheme of things, the Fashion Show for example is just one morning of the year. It’s such a small amount of time, a fraction of my year and it has such a positive impact. Why wouldn’t we help the community?”
Hudson & Kemp is also a ‘My New Hair’ salon. My New Hair is a charity, founded and inspired by Trevor Sorbie MBE, which provides advice and support for people suffering from cancer and medical hair loss.
Alex saw Trevor on morning TV talking about how My New Hair came to be and was inspired. Losing hair is not only physical but also emotional. Both things combined can be very intense and people need somewhere to turn for guidance.
“When people come into the salon via My New Hair, it’s not necessarily about getting a haircut, it’s about having a conversation.
At a salon you’re walking into a place where everyone has hair and that can be intimidating. You think everyone is looking at your wig or your lack of hair. It’s vital that people have someone they trust in a place where they won’t be judged.
When going through a life changing illness losing your hair is like the final insult on top of everything else you’re going through. Being a ‘My New Hair’ salon, I hope we’re making that step just a bit easier.”
A side effect that many people don’t know about when losing hair to chemo is that it can often grow back totally different. Sometimes curly hair will come back straight and vice versa. One of Alex’s clients had white hair before treatment and then it grew back darker.
“Keep an open mind. Your hair might grow back the same, it might grow back completely different. You’re dealing with something you’ve never dealt with before. Be kind to yourself during this process.”
I asked Alex for parting words of advice for those going through cancer treatment, people who had lost their hair and were unsure of what’s to come. Her words did not disappoint.
“It’s a long process. Don’t expect your hair to come back quickly. That’s not what you want to hear but it can take a good few years to get your final head of hair.
You need to be patient, which is the hardest thing to do!
Initially even if for a little while, it’s best to keep it that bit shorter. It’s natural when you haven’t had hair in a while to want to grow it. The best thing you can do is to keep it a little short initially so that it all catches up to itself. Then you don’t have different and uneven layers, which will thicken it up.
Another tip is to look after your scalp because it will be very sensitive. Use gentle, natural products, minimal hair washing and don’t use any heat.
The most important thing I can say is, don’t be scared to ask for advice. People have a worry that they’ll go into the salon and the hairdresser will want to cut off what little hair they have. That’s not what we’ll do!”
We cannot recommend Hudson & Kemp enough. Even Lucy our Marketing Officer gets her hair cut with them. A big thank you to Tracey, Natalie, Rebecca, Anastasia, Katie, Emma, Tilly and Alex for being the heart of the community.
