Staff and students at Hesley Village & College are proving to be a cut above the rest after a new hairdressing salon opened in the village.

The salon, which is open two half-days a week, is the latest addition to the ever-growing community at the village. It joins facilities such as the shop and bakery, post office and bank, and clothes shop which are already up-and-running.

Staffed by professional hairdresser, Amanda Clyde, the salon has already proved extremely popular and it is hoped its opening hours will gradually increase. Hesley Village head, Sue Ekins, said the hairdresser’s serves a dual purpose, “It allows our residents to build up their skills and confidence to enable them, eventually, to visit a salon in the community, and it gives us a great venue for them to gain some valuable work experience”.

Sue added, “The idea is that people from outside will also come in to have their hair done by Amanda”.

Alongside the hairdressers, there is a beautician’s and a medical centre, and it is hoped that the new educational vocational centre will be open by the end of the year too. The expanding range of facilities and services has come at just the right time with more students moving into the new housing at the village.

The latest accommodation to open has been Fieldside, consisting of two three-bedroom semi-detached homes and four one-bedroom flats. Ten students have moved in recently.

Another eight residents will live in a three-bedroom house, a bungalow and four one-bedroom flats once these are completed next Spring. It is hoped that more single accommodation will be constructed in another area of the village at a later date.

The new hairdresser’s at Hesley Village