A NORTH-EAST barber shop has teamed up with a suicide prevention charity to encourage customers to talk about their mental health.

Rum Razor Barbershop has created T-shirts featuring the new If U Care Share logo to add to its extensive collection and sell in its premises in Durham.

If U Care Share will also be providing Mental Health Awareness training to all staff at the popular barber shop, along with drop-in events for customers as part of the new partnership.

Rum Razor founder Paul Cowen said the relationship between his shop and the charity is aimed at raising awareness of male suicide, as well as raising funds.

If U Care Share Foundation recently undertook a rebranding and the bespoke Belmont barber shop, which sells a number of unique T-shirts from the in-store shelves, has included a new garment with the charity’s new logo on the reverse.

Mr Cowen said: “We wanted to do something that would spread the message that we are not alone no matter how it may seem.

"If U Care Share is a charity that is really making strides in helping others realise they’re not alone. When I first heard about the cause it resonated with me on a level that I knew straight away I wanted to help.”

Since 2011 The Foundation has supported more than 2,000 people who have lost loved ones or who are at risk of suicide, as well as working with 30,000-plus young people in Premier League and Football League academies nationwide and schools and colleges across the North-East.

The new identity has been developed with the families that If U Care Share supports. It is hoped that the new look will help its life-saving message reach more people who need support and get more conversations started around suicide and mental health.

Speaking about the partnership, charity founder Matthew Smith said: “The charity is now helping more people than ever before, and we have helped to put the incredibly important issues of suicide and mental health at the centre of the North-East conversation.

“Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45, If U Care Share and Rum Razor want to change this. The partnership will encourage men to know that it’s okay not to feel okay and putting tools in place to know where anyone can access support.”