A barber has moved across the road into a much bigger shop to continue his popular community cuts.

Craig Henderson is known in Bolton for his work cutting the hair of children with autism and serving the community with his mental health training.

Craig’s Barber Shop on Tonge Moor Road is often labelled a ‘safe’ place for autistic children with Craig even going into schools to help the children desensitise the experience before getting their haircut.

The new shop is on the same road but opposite the old one, and is a bigger much-needed space for Craig to take on more clients and create a happy environment for all those coming in.

The Bolton News:

He said: “It got to the point in the business where we have grown with a bigger scale because of all the things we are doing.

“There is more space and it’s an area people can relax where children can walk about.

“It’s more airy and natural themed, so it’s a safe place for all communities including LGBTQ and people with autism.”

In the new shop, Craig has built a sensory area where autistic children can sit while getting used to their surroundings.

Since winning an award in the Beyond Business category at the Collective Pride Awards, run by mental wellbeing charity The Lions Barber Collective in January 2022, Craig is seeing more families travel from further to get haircuts at the shop.

The Bolton News:

Craig said: “I have had people coming from all over, with one family from Morecambe.

“I still go to schools such as The Nest and Rumworth School.

“Everything is appointment based so there are no disruptions while the child is there with family.

“Some take 45 minutes while some take an hour but once they get used to me and the haircut, it can go down to 30 or even 15 minutes.”

Craig is looking at hiring a member of staff to train in a similar way to himself so that he can continue supporting as many families as he can.

Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Akhtar Zaman was at the opening of the new shop