ZAKARIA, a barber, and his family arrived on Bute from Syria in January 2020 – “It was indescribably beautiful! We were made very welcome,” he said.
Abdulhadi, his son, added: “What we found in Rothesay was very familiar! A community that looks out for each other, always willing to help each other out, just like we do in Syria.”
But just two months later, the first Covid lockdown made integrating into the community seem impossible. With the help of the Argyll and Bute Refugee Resettlement team, Zakaria began to visit care homes,
offering free barbering and haircuts to residents. As the world opened up post- Covid, Zakaria decided to open his own barbershop, Brandanes, in Rothesay.
By then, Rothesay had adopted the family as their own, and the community helped the business to become established by all coming in for a haircut in the early days, with many regular customers continuing to come in to this day.
Zakaria has been helped by English language classes geared towards his needs and in chatting with his customers.
Abdulhadi studied barbering under his father, obtained Scottish qualifications at college and now works alongside Zakaria in their shop.
“Dad is ‘old school’, and I’m for the younger customers,” Abdulhadi explained.
He also works one day a week at a high-class barbers in Glasgow, having been headhunted after being highly placed in a national competition.
He has many plans for his future in Scotland, as he has recently got engaged to a girl he met at school.
“I’m now training to become a lecturer in barbering and hair- dressing. I want to bring classes here to Rothesay.
At first island life was a bit weird because we used to live in a big city, but now we love it. If you said we
could move back to a city we wouldn’t want to. This is home now!”
