A LOCAL hair and beauty salon has raised nearly £1,500 for children’s bereavement charity Jeremiah’s Journey, following three years of committed fundraising.

The salon, which has been running in Tavistock for over eight years, is committed to supporting a different charity, usually every year, and chose Jeremiah’s Journey before lockdowns and up to 2022 following a client sharing their story about their involvement with the charity.

Salon manager Kelsey Douglas Short said: ‘Over the pandemic, the hair and beauty industry practically shutdown and we were unable to do many things. We had already chosen to support Jeremiah’s Journey and decided to continue, given that before last year, we weren’t able to do much fundraising.

‘We hit the ground running last year, participating in many activities to help raise money. Myself, Kirsty and Sophie took part in a 5km inflatable run last April, where the bulk of our total was raised through people sponsoring us; the rest was thanks to the generosity of our clients.

‘We always help where we can in supporting local charities. National charities often do well, however, we choose smaller ones and do our research into them to help spread awareness of the work they do.’

The ladies at Venus have maintained contact with Jeremiah’s Journey from the beginning of their fundraising journey, regularly sharing updates with their progress. They handed over a cheque for £1,459.35 to the charity at a small ceremony in the Salon last week, where Jeremiah Bear joined them to deliver a presentation and say thank you.

For 2023, the salon is now supporting Tavi Pride, who will be hosting the town’s second Pride event in the Meadows on Saturday, July 1 this year.

Kelsey said: ‘Again, we’re committed to supporting another local cause. I attended the first event last summer with my family and it so enjoyable - it was a long time coming and Tavi Pride has huge potential. Unfortunately we live in a time where some people may still harbour negative views for no real reason, so we think it’s really important for everyone to show support and celebrate how different we all are and that we come from all walks of life.

‘I know the event organisers are already taking applications for performers and stalls, and we’re set to have a stall there on the day. Now it’s in its second year, we can’t wait for July and to watch Tavi Pride continue to grow bigger and bigger.’

The ladies in the salon have already started to pool ideas in how to fundraise in support of Tavi Pride and are also welcoming ideas from their clients. So far, they have planned to participate in the 5km inflatable run again, take applications for a sponsored wax, host many cake sales and run a big raffle at Christmas (as they do every year), which includes a ‘kissmas’ competition which is judged by The Stranded Sheep who are based opposite the salon on Pepper Street.