Scissors of Oz launches female empowerment project

The storytelling programme and workshops for women were conceived during the pandemic aimed at empowering people and improving wellbeing. The programme aims to encourage people to talk about their heritage, their experiences of any hair related trauma, hair care and self-care strategies.

Funding for the programme was received from The Culture Seeds.

The programme was aimed at women attending the Southwark's Women's Hub in London, however due to the pandemic group sessions were unable to take place. Instead, The Sisters of OZ Creative Hair and Healing Hub was launched at the Scissors of Oz premises, enabling women to have open conversations in a safe place and connect with others, creating a community and wellbeing space.

Now, to reach a wider group of people, influencer Shahira has become involved with the project, creating a video discussing self-care and empowerment.

Commenting on the success of The Sisters of OZ Creative Hair and Healing Hub, Oz Izzet, Founder of the Scissors of Oz, says:

“Launching this programme means a great deal to me, I wanted to give back to the amazing women at the Southwark's Women's Hub and create a safe space for them to share their experiences together. In doing this we aid and promote the importance of self-care, have open conversations about stigma, heal together and empower each other through hair. Elevating black voices and people of colour in our industry is important to me and Shahira was a great person to do this with in our video. Although the original workshops had to be modified, the video has created a snippet of our powerful message and programme.”