WHAT’S said in the barber’s chair stays in the barber’s chair, according to Asher Graham.

The stylist, who opened his own shop on Manchester Road just over a year ago, wants to use the trust between barber and client as a way of helping men to open up about their mental health and cut away the stigma attached to it.

To mark World Suicide Prevention Day he wants men to know that when they sit down in his chair for a haircut that it’s a place where they can confide in him about their struggles.

He explained: “They might not have anyone close to them that they trust, but when it’s in my chair it’s a one-to-one and the information they share with me isn’t going to anyone else.”

The 22-year-old decided to do his bit to help because of his experience with customers talking about their problems.

He stressed he doesn’t pry into their private lives but builds a level of trust with each client that walks into A Style Barbers and makes it a safe space for them.

“I wouldn’t get someone to open up to me because the client needs to trust you,” he told the Adver.

“We are just cutting their hair and we work to lead them on to the right path. Sometimes certain people don’t have other people to talk to and so we are here for them.”

Asher is not the only stylist ready to lend a friendly listening ear to clients. The Lions Barber Collective is a men’s mental health and awareness charity set up by Tom Chapman after he lost his friend to suicide.

It runs a training programme to teach barbers to listen and advise clients. He said: “We aren’t telling people they have to tell your barber everything, but we should be able to advise them and listen.”