Staff and customers of a Leyland hair salon have raised £290 to support children and young people with liver disease. The team at Hair Central joined in Big Yellow Friday, the national fundraising and awareness day for childhood liver disease, organised by Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (now merged with the British Liver Trust).
Inspired by salon manager, Sophie Woodhouse, who was born with the rare liver disease, biliary atresia, the team organised a cake sale which ran throughout March 13 and 14 and proved extremely popular!
“As a child I always understood that I had a poorly liver, says Sophie, 25. “And I feel fortunate that apart from regular hospital appointments and blood tests, I had a pretty normal childhood. The only time I ever felt different was the “chore” of taking my meds every morning and night, especially at a sleep over.
“But while I may have been too young to worry about it, it was certainly not the case for my family! I know my dad, Andrew, got a lot of information and support from Children’s Liver Disease Foundation when I was young. So this charity will always be important to me.
“For the past 20 years my health has fortunately been stable. I still have three-monthly blood tests at our local hospital and an annual appointment with my liver consultant in Birmingham. I am conscious that having a weak immune system and working with the public, means I have to be extra careful, but I feel so lucky to be doing a job that I love. It’s a great feeling to be doing something so creative, making people feel amazing when they leave the salon and I’m now looking into teaching hairdressing.
“Now felt like a good time to give something back and also to raise awareness of a smaller charity that many people don’t know about. I was so pleased to see that my colleagues were enthusiastic to join in Big YelIow Friday too. We had a great selection of home baking, our customers were very generous, and I feel really proud to have raised so much for a charity so close to my heart.”
Michelle Wilkins, Head of Children and Families Services at British Liver Trust, commented: “We’ve supported Sophie and her family for many years now and it’s wonderful to see that she is pursuing a career which she loves – what an inspiration to other young people with liver disease. It’s brilliant that her colleagues and customers were so supportive of her fundraising and she should be proud to know that her efforts are helping children and families around the UK affected by childhood liver disease.”
You can support Big Yellow Friday by going to Big Yellow Friday | Children’s Liver Disease Foundation
