Kirkcaldy barbershop hopes to refuel karma with eighth year of clothing drive

Mark Reynolds, who owns Revolution Barbershop on Kirkcaldy High Street, has donated clothing to worthy causes in the Lang Toun through his appeal for the last eight years. This year’s appeal starts today (Thursday, April 4). He is once again asking for donations, which will see the clothing donated to Nourish, and is now including his Edinburgh barber shop, which opened a year ago, in the clothing drive.

The Edinburgh leg will see donations made to Crisis, who offer advice and support to individuals and families who are currently homeless, or at risk of homelessness.

Mark said: “I do it bi-annually, but this year I’m extending it to my Edinburgh shop. I've opened up in Bread Street, near the Grassmarket and I am going to get a slew of clothes on this one.”

Mark has used his shops as a platform for numerous charity projects over the years, including an annual beach clean in Kirkcaldy and has worked with Crisis as part of their Crisis at Christmas project where he cuts hair. He said the clothing drive is an opportunity to get his “karma back in line”.

Mark continued: “This is our eighth year of doing it and I just want to keep it going but this year I want to expand on and see what we can collect for our homeless brothers and sisters across Scotland, it's not just Kirkcaldy anymore, now we're talking about Edinburgh homeless as well.”

Last year, the clothing drive accumulated around 140 bags of quality, used clothing. However, Mark is hoping by including his Edinburgh shop, he’ll be able to far surpass this target with a whole new crop of potential donors available.

He explained: “Last year was awesome. We needed a flatbed truck to get all these bags out of here. We gathered 140 bags and I think we can get 300 bags between the two shops this year. Every year you get a new crop of students in Edinburgh and a lot of people move. People can purge their winter clothes and break out the summer dresses. Anything that could help.”

Mark opened his Edinburgh shop opened last year after establishing his business in the Lang Toun. Donations can be made to both premises, with mens, women and children’s clothing all accepted. The clothing drive will run for a month until Sunday, May 5. Both shops are open 11.00-8.00am.

Mark said: “We're kind of in a cool spot and I think we can take advantage of that and get a lot of quality used clothing – and the main things that we're looking for are quality used clothing, men, women, children, babies. We’ll also take toys – so, just clear out and purge your closets!”

Clothing donated to the barber shops will be distributed locally to either Nourish or Crisis, depending on where the item was donated.