TWO hairdressers have received celebrity training in the art of professional wig cutting to support people through medical hair loss.

Joanne Wright and Leona Loftus, owners of Colourbank for Hair, went to London to complete the course, led by celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie MBE.

Mr Sorbie is one-time winner of World Hairdresser of the Year and has appeared on numerous TV shows.

Joanne, 41, was inspired to learn wig cutting after her mum, Lily Smith, 67, fought off breast cancer 15 years ago.

Joanne said: “I will never forget the day I had to shave off my own mum’s hair when it started falling out during chemotherapy to treat her breast cancer.

“We cried, talked, cried again — and then laughed. In a strange way, it provided some kind of therapy for both of us.”

In the following years, friends and customers alike would go to Joanne for advice when they lost or feared losing their hair, and the effects of a simple haircut proved staggering.

“I have shaved heads, cut wigs to make them less obvious and styled the regrowing hair, which is often very different to what the customer had before,” she said.

“Wig cutting is actually very different from cutting normal hair, so the course was very worthwhile.”

Joanne knew that Trevor Sorbie had launched a charity for ladies with medical hair loss called My New Hair after a personal experience affecting a loved one and so signed up for his course with co-owner Leona. “It was fascinating to learn about how we needed to adapt our skills,” said Leona, “both for the wig cutting itself as well as understanding that everyone deals with things in a different way and we need to respect this.”

The team will donate money from every cut on Friday to Pendleside Hospice as part of Hair for Hospices month.