Crowned with Care Comes to Leicester

A Day at HOET College

In April, Crowned with Care made its way to Leicester and we couldn't have asked for a more fitting home for the day. HOET, the Heart of England Training college on Causeway Lane, is a spacious, state-of-the-art institution that is home to students five days a week, building careers in hair and beauty.

It is a place built around the belief that hair and beauty are skilled, meaningful crafts that sit at the heart of people's everyday lives. When HOET graciously opened their doors and invited us to take over their space for the day, it felt like an alignment of values as much as it was a practical arrangement.

Heart of England Ltd, Leicester

Arriving at the Space

From the moment children and carers arrived, they were welcomed into an environment that was both professional and warm. The HOET building gave us the room to do what we do properly — space to breathe, space to connect and space to make each child feel unhurried and celebrated.

Before anyone sat down in a styling chair, every young person was first guided through the hair box and book nook that we had created within the space. Shelves filled with books by Black and mixed-heritage authors sat alongside a carefully curated selection of hair care products. Stylists walked each child and carer through what every product was, what it did and why it mattered for their specific hair, before letting them choose what they wanted and pack their own personalised box to take home.

The Style

Once boxes were packed and curiosity was satisfied, each young person was collected by their stylist and taken through to the styling stations. As always, our stylists are DBS-checked professionals recruited from the local area because our events are not a one-off.

We want carers to leave with a name, a face and a connection they can return to. Every appointment is also a learning moment: an opportunity for carers to sit alongside their child, watch closely and build the knowledge and confidence to care for their hair at home every day.

Children chose their own styles. Stylists listened, advised and then got to work. And the results, as ever, spoke for themselves.

Curly Hair 101 with Preeya Ogier

Running alongside the children's experience was something equally important for the adults in the room. Preeya Ogier — founder of Curl Jar, a Leicester-based brand she built after years of developing nourishing solutions for textured hair — led our Curly Hair 101 workshop for foster carers throughout the day.

Preeya came in to talk honestly and practically about what it actually takes to care for curly and coily hair at home. The kind of conversation carers don't always get the chance to have. By the end of the session the room felt different. People left with more than information; they left feeling like they could actually do this.

What the Day Left Behind

One carer summed up the Leicester event better than we ever could:

"We were made to feel very relaxed and my boys loved it and felt very proud of their hair."

Relaxed. Proud. Those two words are everything.

Relaxed because the environment was intentional, calm, unhurried and celebratory. Proud because a child who understands their hair, who has chosen their style and watched it come to life in the hands of someone who truly knows what they are doing, walks out of the room differently.

This is what we are building, event by event, city by city. We are so grateful to HOET for making Leicester possible, to Preeya and Curl Jar for bringing their expertise and warmth to the carers in the room, and to every family who showed up and trusted us with their children.

We cannot wait to come back.

Written by Emiola Lanlehin