Young Belfast barber’s advice to GCSE students – aim to be a cut above

Mark Hawthorne, 21, from the Shankill area, is currently working in Melbourne with ambitions to set up his own brand in Belfast as well as mentor young people.

He received his GCSE results at the Belfast Boys’ Model school in 2017 after experiencing personal challenges including being placed into care at the age of 11.

At that time, official statistics pointed to just 15% of looked-after children getting five good GCSEs.

There was also the backdrop of a report which had found that loyalist working-class boys were falling behind in terms of education.

However, Mark secured eight good GCSE passes, including two Bs and six Cs.

He said his mother had struggled with drug dependency and mental health problems, and they were forced to leave their home in Carrickfergus.

“I was going nuts in school, getting suspended. Getting taken into care was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because it helped me be able to help my mum be able to get clean, and now we have a brilliant relationship, and I respect her so much,” he told the PA news agency.

“The main thing I want to do now is help other people. I know from experience it only takes one person believing in you to change your life, like my foster family believed in me.”

At the same time as his studies, he gave his time as a youth support worker at St Peters Immaculata Youth Centre on the nationalist Falls Road, across the peace wall from his home on the lower Shankill.

Five years on, he said at that stage he felt a little lost in terms of what to do next, and as students this week prepare to receive their GCSE results, he said he wants to emphasise to them how much is possible whatever their background.

“I want to show people waiting for their GCSE results now how much they can do,” he said.

“When I was in school, I felt like a statistic and was told I’d be lucky to get five qualifications, but I’ve had jobs in London, have been offered jobs in Canada and now I’m in Melbourne until next year.

“When I was 16, if you’d ask me where I’d be in five years’ time, I’d have said, I don’t know.

“I want people to know that even if you don’t get the grades you want, grades aren’t everything, it’s about your drive, your motivation and how much you want it.

“I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I’ve turned it around and won awards, I work in an award-winning salon in Melbourne. Stuff I would never have dreamed of, but I’ve been able to get there.”

He paid tribute to Belfast Boys’ Model for sticking by him and said he was almost persuaded to go back to do A-levels but after talking with his head of year and his foster parents, he decided to follow his dream of cutting hair.

Mark went to Belfast Metropolitan College and got his qualifications, after which he won a student barber of the year prize.

“When I went to get my award, there was a big banner with me and my boss on it, it was crazy, only two or three years before I was nearly getting kicked out of school,” he said.

He went on to train in London, however the coronavirus pandemic saw him return home to Belfast where his foster parents told him they wanted him to stay with them until he was 21, rather than leaving at 18.

This year he took up a job opportunity in Melbourne, which led to the life-long Manchester United fan not only getting to meet some of the players but also cut their hair.

“It was crazy, I would never have thought I would get to do something like that,” he said.

Next for Mark will be working again in London, developing into fashion styling and towards editorial work.