Rowan Village salon: under new management!

Residents and staff at Rowan Village and Lime Tree Court, Meir welcome new hairdresser Pat as she takes over the on-site hairdressers.

The takeover happened not long after Pat and her husband moved into their brand-new apartment at Lime Tree Court last year.

“Me and my husband moved to Lime Tree Court in November last year. It’s an annexe to Rowan Village with full access to their facilities”, says Pat.

“I discovered that there was an on-site salon and I was excited to see if I could volunteer in there. Hairdressing is my passion but I had to give it up after a cancer diagnosis. I was gutted but it was the right decision for my health. I’ve been cancer free now for nine years and was looking for something to keep me busy.

“Once we’d moved in and settled I decided to speak to Julie the village manager. She told me that the hairdresser left. At that point I thought it was too good of an opportunity to miss and asked if I could take over the salon.

“I told her about my experience of having my own salon in Cheadle for seven years then we worked together to make it happen.

“My husband used to be a builder so offered to help me spruce up the place to make sure residents could get a relaxing experience when they visited. It’s had a fresh lick of paint, a brand-new look and even a new name to go along with it.

“I decided to call the salon Bellissimo. I thought it was perfect because it means beautiful in Italian. That’s exactly how I want residents to feel when they leave the salon.

“We opened the doors soon after. I’m open three days a week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday until 3.30pm. I have reasonable prices and residents, staff, friends, neighbours and family are more than welcome.

“I have a lot of regulars who come in to have a chat and it’s such a social space. I have residents coming in for a wash and blow dry because they can’t do their hair the way they used to. It helps them feel more like themselves.

“It’s so lovely when you see residents leave and they get compliments. It lifts people’s spirits and I’ve often seen them comparing their dos in the café too!

“I’ve had no complaints yet and one of my resident’s family members said she’d never seen her mum’s hair so nice.”

Julie Sisk, Rowan Village Manager who helped make the salon happen for Pat says: “It’s lovely to see Pat in the salon now. You can see she’s in her element there.”

“All of our wonderful ladies come out of the hairdressers looking fabulous. To them this is more than just a salon. It’s somewhere they can meet and talk. It’s handy because they don’t have to go off site wasting money on taxis or the bus. Instead, they can come downstairs for a bit of pampering.”

“A lot of our residents have lost the ability to be able to do their hair themselves and it leaves them feeling down. Having a hairdresser on-site at such affordable prices means they can have treatments more often and it really helps to boost their confidence.”