General News
5 June, 2025
Free haircuts offered for farmers, CFA
TRAVELLING through the Grampians following this year’s devastating bushfires served as a point of inspiration for a local hairdresser to offer free haircuts to farmers and Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers this month.
Knot Just Hair in Mortlake is offering free haircuts to farmers and Country Fire Authority volunteers every Saturday over the next month in a show of solidarity with those impacted by drought, the unpopular Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy and harsh cost of living conditions.
Owner Emily Thorne said she had been inspired to make the offer after travelling to Halls Gap for a wedding, along the way experiencing the devastation wrought by the bushfires of January and February.
“Seeing how the fire had affected the majority of the towns was eye-opening,” she said.
“A lot of the roads were blocked off and for hundreds of kilometres you could see all the trees that were dead.
“Some of them had green leaves coming back through, but seeing that had me wanting to help any way I could.
“I tried to find out if I could do a fundraiser and hold a barbecue, but the council said that was going to be a little too hard because I would have to have someone in charge of all the funds – it couldn’t just be me.”
The idea of using her salon, which she had only recently opened, to offer free services to farmers and CFA volunteers quickly emerged as her best choice – and she wasn’t the only salon eager to get on board.
Ms Thorne said The Concept Salon in Casterton and Terang’s Thomson Street Hair Design had also offered free haircuts to farmers.
“One of the salons I’m friends with in Casterton posted they were going to offer a free haircut on a certain day, and a few others jumped on board offering vouchers and such,” she said.
“Casterton is quite a small town like Mortlake.
“A salon in Terang (Thomson Street Hair Design) that I’m associated with also posted that they were going to offer free haircuts for farmers.
“I wanted to extend that to CFA volunteers.
“They’ve been hit the hardest, and the majority of them are farmers, so they’ve been hit double.”
Ms Thorne said she was familiar with the pressures facing farmers, and wanted to do something to ease the pressures in a gesture of solidarity.
“Coming from a farm as well, we’ve just run out of water so we’re dry as,” she said.
“We’ve had to sell cows, so I know how hard everyone is doing it.
“I put it out there that it’s for the farmers and the CFA and it’s not just men – it’s women or the kids, because when you’ve got young kids you have to pay for their haircuts too.”
Social media posts offering the free haircuts quickly gained momentum as the wider community praised the businesses for their willingness to give up their time and skills to support those who need help.
“I didn’t expect to see it go so viral so quickly, but I think it shows people understand our communities rely on the CFA,” Ms Thorne said.
“If they’re not getting support back, it makes them feel like they shouldn’t even bother.
“We had a fire nearby last week which took 10 trucks to bring under control – the CFA could have turned around and said they’re not going to it, but they still did.
“Having the support of everyone, to see small towns rallying together, makes a difference.”