Thornton salon owner to raise funds for neo-natal charity

Kirsty Johnston, who owns Kirsty Johnston Studio, is raising money for charity Bliss during a charity event next month.

The studio will be donating proceeds on Saturday, November 11 to the charity, which provides care for babies born prematurely and requiring special care.

Kirsty said: “We're raising money for Bliss and what we're doing is we're just putting all our proceeds that day to the charity, it’s everybody in the salon. We're doing offers like £50 for dyes and £15 pedicures. I think one of the girls was already booked, so she's just putting all her money into it. So yeah, we’re just trying our best to put in as much as we can”.

Kirsty is raising funds for a charity that is close to her heart following the premature birth of her son.

She explained: “My son was born very premature in January and I've always wanted to just give back. I thought that would be a good way of doing that. I was going to jump out of a plane but then I got scared I would die, so I thought this would be better.”

Kirsty will follow up the salon day with a Little Lights Walk two weeks later on Saturday, November 25.

She is aiming to raise £500 with the walk, which sees participants walk with lanterns or fairy lights to light the way for the 90,000 babies that are cared for in neonatal units every year in the UK.

Bliss was founded in 1979 by parents concerned at the lack of hospitals in possession of all the equipment for and staff to care for premature babies. Determined to do something, these volunteers formed a charity to give vulnerable babies the care they deserve. Forty years later Bliss has grown into the leading UK charity for babies born needing neonatal care every year.

If you can’t attend the salon day in-person, you can support Kirsty’s Little Lights Walk fundraising at her Just Giving page which can be found at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/1697145143018?