Danielle Balcombe is part of the Haircuts4Homeless project, set up hairdresser Stewart Roberts, and now regularly gives up her time to cut the hair of homeless and vulnerable people.
As a thank you for her work, Stewart organised a surprise for Danielle on a recent trip to London, which was filmed and shown in an ad break during the X Factor on Saturday.
Danielle was outside the Dominion Theatre with Stewart when she got quite the shock.
“The stage door opened and the cast (of Bat Out of Hell) came out screaming and shouting surprise,” she said. “Then I was a guest of honour at the Bat Out of Hell show which was fantastic.”
Stewart worked with the National Lottery, which provides funding his project, to organise the surprise for Danielle.
Stewart said: “Danielle is a classic example of the support we’ve had. As a local freelance hairstylist she’s already a busy lady but was one of the first to step forward and say ‘yes, I can help with that.'”
Despite being hailed as a local hero, she does not see herself as one and is just trying to make a difference to people who face a tough time.
“They get really choked up that someone actually cares about how they feel about themselves, because the inner confidence is what might actually make that difference and help them get a job and help themselves.”
Haircuts4Homelsss has received more than £62,000 in funding from The National Lottery and next year it plans to open an academy in Romford.
Tags: Romford, Havering, Charity
