London barbershops trained to test blood pressure in UK-first project 

London South Bank University (LSBU), Croydon BME Forum and Off The Record have today (19.04.2021) launched a project to train barbers to measure and give advice about blood pressure to their customers. The UK-first project has trained eight barbershops who have customers from Croydon to provide on-the-spot blood pressure checks and provide health information to them. 

The UK barbershop blood pressure testing project is inspired by a successful health study in Los Angeles barbershops in 2018 which resulted in 68% of those with high blood pressure ending the study with healthy blood pressure levels. 

Around 30% of men in the UK currently have high blood pressure, around half of these are not diagnosed or receiving treatment. High blood pressure is the third biggest cause of disease in the UK, leading to kidney disease, vascular dementia and mobility problems, costing the NHS £2billion every year. The London barbershop project will target Black and Asian men who are more likely to have high blood pressure and less likely to be diagnosed than the general population.  

The eight London barbers who will be providing blood pressure tests are: Finishing Touches (Mitcham), Yian the Barber (South Norwood), Cutter Hair Doctor (South Norwood), J & D Doyleys (Thornton Heath), House of Bertrand (Bromley), Da Ace Of Fades (Thornton Heath), The Barber Shop (Croydon) and Juls The Hair Klinik (Mitcham).  

Hugh Benain from Finishing Touches barbershop said, “It’s great to be taking part in this important project to tackle high blood pressure in the community. We’ll be offering our customers on-the-spot blood pressure tests and health information for them to take away. High blood pressure is a silent killer and providing tests and information from our barbershop could save lives.” 

Nicola Thomas, LSBU Professor of Kidney Care and barbershop project lead said, “For the first time in the UK, barbers will offer testing to their customers to find out if they have high blood pressure and then give advice about how to reduce it. 

“Sadly, millions of adults in the UK have high blood pressure and half are undiagnosed which can lead to strokes or heart attacks. Our Croydon barbershop project aims to understand if we can run a similar project to the one in Los Angeles. It is the trusting relationship that customers have with their barbers that is so important – we need to take healthcare out into the community.” 

Notes to editors:  

A.  The eight Croydon barbershops who taking part in the UK-first project to provide blood pressure checks for their customers are:  

1. Finishing Touches - 72 Monarch Parade, Mitcham, CR4 3HB - @barbrcris  
2. Yian the Barber - 15 Portland Rd, South Norwood, SE25 4UF - @yianthebarber  
3. Cutters - 52 Portland Rd, South Norwood, SE25 4PQ - @cutter_hairdoctor 
4. J & D Doyleys - 5 Brigstock Rd, Thornton Heath, CR7 7JE - @HowietheBarber 
5. House of Bertrand - 153 Capstone Rd, Bromley, BR1 5NR - @houseofbertrand  
6. Da Ace Of Fades - 786 London Rd, Thornton Heath, CR7 6JB - @da_ace_of_fades 
7. The Barber Shop, 9 St James Rd, Croydon, CR0 2SB  
8. Juls The Hair Klinik - 6 Laing Corner, Mitcham, CR4 2JA - @julsthehairklinik  

B.   Croydon BME Forum is the umbrella organisation for Croydon’s Black and Minority Ethnic voluntary and community sector; engaging people, building capacity, and promoting equality and cohesion.  

C.   Off the Record (OTR) Youth Counselling Croydon was founded in 1994 to support children and young people's mental health. They currently work in Croydon Sutton and Merton providing a broad community mental health menu including counselling, online support, workshops, webinars and respite activities. 

D.   In September 2021 Croydon’s first ever university campus will be opened. LSBU Croydon will offer health and business courses and is aimed at helping to tackle the huge nursing shortage in London and the South East.  

Contact: Joe Derrett, LSBU Media Manager, 07710 559 639 / derrettj@lsbu.ac.uk  

www.lsbu.ac.uk/about-us/news/london-barbershops-trained-to-test-blood-pressure-in-uk-first-project

In the news

Barbers trained to test blood pressure in health campaign for Black and Asian men | The Independent
www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/barbers-london-blood-pressure-b1833364.html

London barbers to test blood pressure in health campaign | BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56802895

South London barbers to test blood pressure in UK first | Your Local Guardian
www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/19249229.south-london-barbers-test-blood-pressure-uk-first

South London barbers to test blood pressure in UK first | News Shopper
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/19249229.south-london-barbers-test-blood-pressure-uk-first