Group sport mullet haircuts in memory of their friend

Jacob Mahy was 21 when he died last September, and as the anniversary approaches his friends have decided to do something in his memory while raising awareness of mental health issues.

Their aim is to persuade people to get mullet haircuts.

One of the group, Harry Smith, said the idea came about after another friend, Theo Duerden, got a mullet during lockdown.

‘We all took the Mickey out of him, and then his brother got one,’ he said.

It was when another of the friends was being given a haircut and Mr Smith was there that he suggested the barber give him a mullet, too, and from then on more members of the group adopted the style.

‘I think we’ve got seven or eight on board so far,’ he said.

Although the mullet was perhaps more usually associated with men, a few girls who knew Mr Mahy have also been persuaded to join in.

Mr Duerden had observed that fashion trends tended to go in cycles.

‘He said it was about time the mullet made a comeback,’ said Mr Smith.

He said the hairstyle has led people to ask why the wearer has it, and that has led to their talking about the campaign and so raising awareness.

‘It’s worked well for us.’

The group has been bowled over by the response to their campaign so far, which is taking place around the anniversary of Mr Mahy’s death.

Mr Smith said the JustGiving page was set up on Tuesday evening, but by lunchtime on Thursday it had raised more than two thirds of its target of £2,500, which had already been updated once.

‘Our initial target was a thousand,’ he said.

‘We did that in less than a day.’

The group would love people with mullets, or who get one for the fundraiser, to share photos on its Instagram page at www.instagram.com/mulletsformind/

• The JustGiving page is at https://bit.ly/3hVcmq7.

• Wikipedia has a page devoted to the much-maligned mullet at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_(haircut)