A new charity barbershop opened on Tuesday in Portimão providing free haircuts to those in need.
The barbershop has been set up at the headquarters of the local Cáritas charity on Rua Diogo Gonçalves and will be open every Tuesday between 3pm and 5pm.
It is aimed at homeless people or people with significant financial difficulties who are supported by Cáritas or one of the other charities included in Portimão’s social emergency network (Rede de Emergência Social de Portimão).
Hopes are that the barbershop will raise the self-esteem of those in need and also help them enter the job market.
It will be manned by Bruno Santos, 39, whose mother volunteers at Cáritas. Having completed his training as a barber just one year, he hopes to follow in her footsteps.
“My goal is to help those in need with some of my free time and knowledge. It is the way I have found to be useful to the society that made me the way I am,” he said.
The initiative is supported by Poritmão Council and has been praised by local mayor Isilda Gomes.
“No one can have self-esteem if they don’t like themselves. If that happens, you lose your love of life and stop fighting. We have a duty to open doors to those in need, show them the way and offer these fundamental services,” she said.
