WE HAVE MADE OUR TARGET!Thank you so much to everybody who has donated, supported, and networked - we owe it all to you! What will we spend any extra funding on? Anything above £9,000 can be put towards extending our services and increasing our offer. This could include training and working with specialists to offer colour services, wet shaves and styling for all hair types. Please keep donating to enable us to further enrich what we can offer to our wonderful and growing queer and trans* inclusive client base.

****To avoid repeating ourselves too much, we have left the introduction to the video, so please click and enjoy our story. The video is subtitled.Project aims:In a nutshell, Open Barbers is a hairdressing project open to everyone, but particularly including people who identify as queer, transgender, lesbian, gay or bi-sexual. We set up in response to how underserved we feel this community of people are in the mainstream. Anyone is welcome to attend Open Barbers, as we wish to create a happy, comfortable and supportive atmosphere that we believe will appeal to anyone regardless of their identity.

In a recent survey, one of our clients wrote: As someone who often used to be read as femme, I really appreciate that no assumptions were made about what kind of haircut I wanted, and what pronouns I use. Even though I've spent the past decade or so in and around queer culture, that wasn't something I'd really experienced before. Actually it made me cry a bit, in a good way.Project background:We have been running open barbers since 2011 as a pop up project, and we have recently been offered a fantastic opportunity by the salon we collaborate with, Chaps and Dames, to start renting our own dedicated section of the salon which we can decorate, furnish and increase our hours. What next:We really need your help to get us started. Below is a list of things we need, and how much we raise will determine how much of this we can fulfil. The start up costs for Open Barbers total £9,000.

• Rental costs for the salon space• High quality barbers chairs to ensure our clients and our barbers are comfortable.• Backwash and reliable water boiler for washing and conditioning hair.• Mirrors, shelving, lockable cabinets and trolleys.• Painting and decorating, removing the lino flooring and restoring the wooden floorboards.• Building space saving and comfortable seating for our clients.• Building and installing a coffee, tea, biscuits and zines station and keeping it topped up.• Basic PC for onsite appointments management, website and social media updating.• Hairdressing equipment, products, gowns and towels.• Health and safety, housekeeping and cleaning products and items.

In return for your contribution we would love to offer a bunch of deals and specially made gifts. No amount of donation is too small, and even a few pounds can help us buy clips, combs, shampoo and towels so please do give anything you can!Greygory & Felix graduated from Hairdressing NVQ level 2 at City and Islington College in 2013, following a decade of self taught hairdressing and a short course in Barbering at London Hair & Beauty Academy.