Hampshire Life: February 2019 (^) 65
PHOTOS:
ABI CHADWICK
across the UK and Ireland
to provide a bespoke wig-
consultation service to their
clients.
Working in partnership with
the Department of Health, a visit
to 10 Downing Street also saw his
involvement in helping to draw
up a standard national policy for
NHS wigs. This success led Trevor
to branch out, helping to train
hairdressers in L’Oreal salons in
Canada as well as Dubai.
“There’s this one little bit that’s
missing from all the wonderful
work which surgeons and nurses
do. I’ve met hundreds of ladies
and when they talk about how
they felt when they found out
they had cancer, the first question
INTERVIEW
on to do this.”
Seeking out the support of
L’Oreal, Trevor was able to
expand the charity’s horizons,
creating a training programme
for hairdressers nationally. His
television and radio connections
helped him to spread the word
and many celebrity clients
stepped in to aid him too. Since
its inception, mynewhair’s
programme has offered nurse-
led, specialist expertise across
all areas of wig cutting and
aftercare, providing much-
needed advice and support.
Trevor’s seminars have been able
to train a network of over 800
independent salons and more
than 1000 hair professionals
A
s a professional stylist,
the illustrious career
of Trevor Sorbie MBE
has seen him cutting
the locks of many a celebrity
client from Dame Helen Mirren
and Grace Jones to being asked
to style none other than Her
Majesty The Queen. Known for
legendary trends such as the
‘wedge’ and ‘scrunch’ drying
technique, Trevor’s rise to fame
began at the tender age of 15
when he left school to take up an
apprenticeship with his father,
shortly followed by opening his
own barbers in North London just
a few years later.
With numerous salons from
Covent Garden to Bristol,
Manchester to Dubai, his
empire has grown somewhat
over the years as he became the
go-to hairdresser; appearing
on primetime television
programmes such as Lorraine
and This Morning. However, it’s
his charitable work over the last
decade for which he was awarded
an Honorary Doctorate from the
University of West of Scotland in
his hometown of Paisley, which
saw his innovation and creativity
take a new direction.
It was a personal experience
which led Trevor to setting up
his charity mynewhair in 2006,
when his sister in law, Jackie, was
first diagnosed with bone cancer.
He wanted the aim of the charity
to be about teaching hairdressers
how to cut wigs in a way that
made them look more like real
hair, helping patients undergoing
chemotherapy to feel as much
like themselves as they could.
Customising Jackie’s wig was just
the start.
“I’d seen women cry before but
it was usually when I’d messed
their hair up,” laughs Trevor.
“This was a different kind of cry,
it was tears of joy. I just felt such
a strong feeling that I’d really
helped her. Not medically but
psychologically. I wanted to do
more,” he explains from his home
in Gosport. “Had it not been for
Jackie, I might never have gone
ABOVE: Trevor
has set up a
dedicated room
in his Gosport
home to offer
bespoke wig
customisations
RIGHT: Together
with his wife
Carole, Trevor is
helping cancer
sufferers around
Portsmouth and
Gosport
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