In early June, the Walkabout Barber visited Narrabri.

The mobile barbershop parked alongside the Youth Centre on Fitzroy Street on Friday, June 4.

Throughout the day several information tours took place at the new youth-centred facility, which has been established to support a range of community members.

This allowed NDCAS staff to share details of the Youth Centre’s goals and outcomes, as well as other services that the organisation offers.

Meanwhile, the Walkabout Barber provided locals with a free haircut, as well as a friendly ear to listen to anything they might be wanting to open up about.

Founder of the social enterprise, Brian Dowd, and his team of three barbers cut the hair of toddlers, boys, girls, youth and elderly as well as those with sensory disorders and disabilities.

Mr Dowd’s background as a trauma specialist, and as the father of a son with autism, means the Walkabout Barber provides a great opportunity for locals to consider the subject of mental health.

The NDCAS-supported event saw 70 haircuts and 30 patterned hairstyles delivered on the day, as well as 80 sausages barbecued and distributed for lunch.

As well as cutting hair, Mr Dowd shared his story of overcoming a drug and alcohol addiction in his youth and spoke on his time in the NRL.

He told guests that, after attempting to take his own life in his younger years, he realised what was truly important to him.

That was the moment he decided to turn his life around, meeting his now wife and having two children soon after, before attending university to specialise in trauma counselling.

Mr Dowd, along with his family and team, travel around to towns to educate people on the importance of mental health.

His goal is to make clients feel fresh on the outside, as well as the inside.

The Walkabout Barber uses mental health first aid techniques to heal communities around Australia,

supporting each mob so they feel appreciated and important.

Mr Dowd’s great-great-grandmother was a healer, and he wants to carry on her legacy in the 21st century.

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