Ezel Alsaadi knows what it’s like to struggle. As a young child, he came to the UK as a refugee by way of Syria after being displaced from his home in Iraq through war.
He says that before leaving Iraq, his family were ‘close to being homeless’ and had to rely on the kindness of family and strangers to help them survive.
“It was rough,” He told the MEN. “I’ve never been homeless but I’ve struggled in life.
READ MORE: Grieving mum, 71, set to be evicted from house she’s lived in for 52 years after plans approved to turn it into a children’s home
READ MORE: ‘Alarm in community’ after strangers approach two schoolgirls on same day
“Iraq wasn’t safe and people couldn’t work there. It got to the point where we weren’t begging but we had to rely on relatives to eat. I know how the homeless people feel, I’ve been through it.”
His life experience made him empathetic to the homeless community in the UK, and after spending three hours locked out of his home in Bolton during one cold winter night, Ezel was inspired to do something to help rough sleepers.
“A few years ago I lost my house keys and it was too cold. I was outside for three hours, I was going mad.
“I wanted to go home, it was too cold. I thought of the homeless and wondered how they could live in the streets in those conditions.
“Then I saw a video on YouTube of someone helping the homeless by giving them a haircut in a barbershop. I thought that I could do that myself, and that’s how it started.”
After cutting a few people’s hair, he decided to film the interactions and post them on social media to raise awareness. He has since produced multiple viral videos, mainly on his TikTok account where his most popular video has racked up 2.9m views.
“I recorded it once in Bolton and posted it and from there I carried on doing it,” explained the 25-year-old.
“I started going to Manchester and Liverpool as well.
“I decided to record it to raise awareness, to let people know what the homeless go through. There’s a stigma around being homeless. I wanted to record them to show people how they live, what they go through and how they cope.”
Ezel speaks to the people while he cuts their hair -Credit:Ezel Alsaadi
Ezel’s videos often involve him approaching somebody and asking if they would be interested in having a free haircut. After pitching up a plastic chair and table, he begins to style their hair while asking them questions about their life and how they came to live on the streets.
The videos have garnered millions of views with thousands of comments from TikTok users commending him. Ezel says that he plans to carry on the series for as long as he physically can.
“All the comments I get makes me really proud and it makes me feel like I’m doing something good. I know I’m not changing their lives, but I’m trying to. I’ll be doing this probably until I die.”
Ezel has also set up a Gofundme to buy supplies for the people he helps on the Bolton streets. You can donate here.