A barber shop in Manchester has started offering £5 haircuts to help their customers struggling with the cost of living.
Founded by an ex-basketball player who once played for the Manchester Giants and London Lions, Northern Quarter barber shop Jefe’s is offering the cut price trims to men and boys struggling to make ends meet.
The barber shop already offers new customers their first trim for £5 (or £10 with a beard trim), however after reflecting on how the cost of living crisis is ‘getting out of hand’ owner Jefe decided he wanted to do more.
Noticing that other businesses are rising prices ‘because they are also struggling’, he commented that it was a ‘vicious cycle’ before adding that ‘a fresh hair cut can boost confidence and self-esteem.’
He continued: “If the weight of the world is getting heavier. this is where people need to know they have someone they can lean on.”
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Tucked just off Stevenson Square on Spear Street, the shop was initially opened after owner Jerelle Okoro retired from sports in 2020.
It made headlines then for launching as Manchester’s first-ever subscription-based barber shop, and now its owner has got the city talking once again with this new affordable service.
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Since launching into the world of barber shops, Jerelle has cut hair for the likes of YouTube boxers Swarms and Fuhad, football reporter Carl Anka and The Voice’s Okulaja.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Jerelle said: “We know everyone’s struggling at the minute and we don’t want people to struggle mentally because they have to sacrifice seeing a friend.
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“The cost of living is getting out of hand, and we’ve noticed that businesses in this crisis are rising prices because they are also struggling too. It’s a vicious cycle.
“A fresh haircut can boost confidence and self-esteem, especially if the weight of the world is getting heavier, this is where people need to know they have someone they can lean on.”
“I’ve always cut hair, due to my frustrations with how other barbers used to treat me,” he explains. “I felt like the art of conversation and service went missing.
“Now, I have a solid team of like-minded barbers that consistently provide a great service and an amazing haircut.”
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“It’s well known in the barbering industry how much impact a haircut can have on people,” he added.
“But that’s not the only thing it can impact, studies have shown men with higher self-esteem perform better in work, act positively, and tolerate frustration much better than those with lower self-esteem.”
Those wanting to book a £5 trim at Jefe’s can do so by texting “Hey Jefe” to 07897022894.
Featured image – Jefe’s
Manchester
A music festival is coming to a Manchester skate park
Danny Jones
With the sun starting to shine more consistently and the music festival season well and truly on its way, we’ll admit we weren’t expecting to see an event taking place on a Manchester skate park, of all places.
Projekts Skatepark, the long-standing skating hub and cultural hotspot located under Macunian Way, is set to host the fourth edition of the unapologetically named ‘Metlchester’.
Starting out life as little more than a small Oldham Street takeover, the city centre festival is returning for this year, bringing plenty of alternative music, skate vibes, bevs and more.
You can see the lineup confirmed so far down below:
The 2025 edition of the festival, a.k.a. ‘Metlchester Vol. 4’, is taking place later this month.
Projekts has been catering to local boarders for the past two decades, and along with their on-site cafe and bar, the space has been put to use for several other special events – case and point, Meltchester Festival, which first started back in 2022.
Bringing a healthy dose of garage rock, post-punk and psych music to NQ from the outset, now it’s expanded, you can expect even more variety when it comes to genre this time around, as well as a well-stocked in-house bar and street food stalls.
Oh yeah, and of course there’ll be the usual merch and skate shop for you to browse.
As for the aforementioned tunes, while last year’s festival was headlined by Night Beats and Frankie & The Witch Fingers, topping the bill this year are Snapped Ankles, along with a mix of grassroots artists, including local duo, Slap Rash, who recently featured as one of our Manc artists of the month for April.
Projekts opened back in 2004Slap RashCredit: Supplied
Set in collaboration with Sour Grapes Records, an equally longstanding regional promoter with hundreds of successful events to their name, they make up part of the Greater Manchester Music Commission.
Serving up an exciting springtime event full of energy, from the skate culture to the performances themselves, this is the perfect appetiser ahead of a busy summer schedule as we approach festival season.
They also happen to be the event coordinators for local music venue Big Hands, where not only are current Sicilian traders Rizzo’s are based (also set to join the festival for the day) but where this year’s after party will be held, which is free for ticket holders, by the way.
Set to kick off from 12 noon on 17 May, with a pro skater session running until 2pm before the tunage, Metlchester sounds like a belter.
Featured Images — quantum bunny (via Flickr)/Supplied
Manchester
Two ‘quick-thinking’ GMP officers praised for saving baby’s life after suffering epileptic seizure
Emily Sergeant
Two ‘quick-thinking’ police officers have been praised for saving baby’s life after they suffering epileptic seizure.
After PCs Harry Moore and Alexandra Higginson were called to reports of a concern for welfare at an address in the Gorton area of Manchester, they managed to save the life of an eight-month-old baby who had suffered a seizure.
“When we entered the street, the baby’s father was already running towards us with the baby in his arms,” explained PC Moore.
“The baby was unconscious at the time with a very irregular breathing pattern, so I immediately took the child from the father and started performing CPR. Whilst performing CPR, I had to give the recovery breaths into the baby’s nose because he had a locked jaw, which I now realise was because of the seizure.”
The ambulance came roughly five minutes after police arrived on the scene.
Quick-thinking officers saved a baby’s life after an eight-month-old suffered an epileptic seizure.
PCs Harry Moore and Alexandra Higginson recently saved the life of an eight-month-old baby who had suffered a seizure.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 3, 2025
After paramedics arrived, they took the baby into the ambulance, where he then proceeded had another seizure, but not long after, he started crying loudly which meant he was back to breathing again.
“I told the father, who was just outside the ambulance at the time, and he was so relieved and gave me a hug,” PC Moore continued. “This is a moment I will never forget.”
PC Moore also praised his colleague PC Higginson, adding: “I can’t state enough how much of a team effort this job was. My colleague did an absolutely fantastic job of passing important information along as appropriate and we worked together as a team.
“Alex travelled to hospital in the ambulance with the mother and baby and I followed separately. Alex constantly relayed vital information and got the details of all parties involved, which was really helpful.
“We hope the baby and family they are all doing well and that the baby is happy and recovering.”
Georgina Pellant -
24th April 2023 
