Woodbridge salon owner, Steve Croft, was hailed amongst other Suffolk hero’s as ‘Volunteer of the Year’ in Suffolk County Council’s Glittering Stars of Suffolk Awards ceremony at Endeavour House attended by hundreds of the community’s great and good!

The event was a celebration to recognise the extraordinary actions of a range of ordinary people living in Suffolk.

Steve Croft, co-owner of John Olivers Hairdressing Group which has four salons across Suffolk, was nominated for his work with victims of cancer who have suffered hair loss.

After initial referral from ‘Cancer Campaign’ a Suffolk cancer advisory charity, and more recently from personal recommendations, Steve offers free advice and consultations.

Steve cuts and styles patients wigs. This selfless contribution has made scores of people feel more confident about their image, whilst coping with the uncertainty of their illness.

Steve was one of a dozen ‘Stars of Suffolk’ who received awards from over 300 worthy nominees.

Steve said “I initially became involved around 5 years ago when my sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although receiving great support from the NHS and other support groups, one area which she struggled with was finding a suitable wig. It became very apparent when talking to my sister-in-law and other cancer patients that the wigs provided did very little to make them feel good about themselves. One lady said she could put up with losing a breast as this could be hidden by clothing, but not losing her hair as this made it obvious to everyone that she was ill. What they wanted, more than anything else, were wigs styled to look more like their own hair.

As my job has always been making women feel good about themselves, I decided to set aside Tuesday evenings to meet and help these women, by cutting and styling their wigs to make them feel feminine again.

When I was asked recently why I choose to do this in my own time for no financial reward, my answer was simple. These women are an inspiration to me. We laugh and cry as they tell me about their fears for the future and their families and they made me realise that some of our day to day worries are insignificant compared to what they have to deal with. For me personally, there can be no greater reward than knowing I have helped someone who is ill feel better about themselves by spending a bit of time with them and giving them a hairstyle they feel happy with.

Steve said about the award that " It has given me the incentive to go public after all these years to try and let more women know about the services I offer."

If you would like to more about John Olivers in Woodbridge you can find out here John Olivers Woodbridge