A young barbering student from Reading has won a barbering competition held at Reading College and University Centre on Thursday 12 June.
Barbering students from Abingdon & Witney College, Basingstoke College of Technology and Reading College and University Centre competed against each other in a Barber Battle competition. They were given 45 minutes to create a hairstyle for the junior and student categories.
The event was held in the foyer area of the Kings Road campus.
Professional barbers, Sid Da Barber from Clean Cuts Barbershop in Guildford, Hamoodi from Homegrown Barbershop in Harrow, Chyna from Fades Studio in Ilford, judged each of the category entries, choosing first, second and third place winners. There were also rounds for professional barbers and a creative category.
Local barbers, Sam and Jesse from Faded Urban Grooming Lounge in Reading did demo barber cuts throughout the event, alongside the professional barber judges.
Tyron Oyebade, 17, from Reading was chosen as the winner of the student category. Tyron is studying a Barbering Level 2 Diploma at Reading College. Alongside studying, Tyron works full-time as a barber at Faded Urban Grooming Lounge in Reading.
“It feels good to have won! For my first competition I wasn’t expecting to win. I did a mid-first fade with a freestyle faded design on the left side. I just thought of it on the spot.
“Winning has boosted my confidence and has shown me that all the shifts I have put in at work have paid off!”
Tyron was presented with a trophy and given a hamper including a clipper, trimmer and lots of aftercare products. He was also given a year’s subscription to Pivot Point LAB, which provides hundreds of hours of interactive content, videos and downloadable resources to empower students.
Professional barber, Anthony Francis from A’s place in Harefield, presented the competition as well as helping to judge the competition.
He said: “It was a great honour to be presenting the event, because you are representing the work behind the scenes, so you have to make sure that you do it to the best of your ability. I absolutely loved it!
“There was a very good level of students taking part. They demonstrated everything that they have learnt in class throughout the year and represented themselves very well.
“Thank you very much Simone, for giving me the privilege of presenting!”
Simone Thomas-Lovelock, Barbering Tutor at Activate Learning, said: “For the first event, I think that it went very well.
“We’ve had some amazing talent today, the students and the juniors all did so well.
“I’m very proud of Tyron. I’ve seen the improvements he has made this year. It shows that working in a barber shop while studying pays off.”
Reading College and University Centre hopes to make the Barber Battle an annual event and are interested in building more relationships with local barbershops to get them involved with the next event and provide work experience placements for students. If you can help, please contact Simone Thomas-Lovelock, Barbering Tutor at Activate Learning via Simone.ThomasLovelock@ActivateLearning.ac.uk
Find out more about barbering courses at Reading College and University Centre or contact Activate Learning on 0800 612 6008.
