A WEE COUNTY hair salon is giving up their tips in an effort to give locals in need a happier Christmas.

Alloa's J&K Glam Bar, owned by Jaclyn McAulay and Katie Borek, have made the decision after realising the position they were in to help people.

Jaclyn said: "Last year Katie helped a family through her local church who didn't have much so this year, with the number of clients we get through the door, we really thought we could make a difference."

Jaclyn wanted to keep it local and so decided to donate their contributions to the Gate. She said: "We spoke to them and asked what they struggled with and they mentioned the amount of kids that don't get advent calendars. I'm a mum so that really broke my heart.

"Nowadays it's not just a chocolate advent calendar," Jaclyn continued. "It can be a LEGO one that costs £20 or £30 and some kids aren't lucky enough to get one that costs a pound."

The salon will be collecting donations all the way up to Christmas. For the rest of this month they are asking for advent calendars before collecting essentials such as food, toiletries and gifts for adults in December.

On top of their charity venture, December will see the salon attend the Hair Salon of the Year finals in Glasgow. The last time the Advertiser spoke to the salon, they had just won the prestigious award after being open less than two years.

Since then they have been finalists every year and have fulfilled their ambition of moving to a bigger space, now located on Alloa's Mill Street.

This year however it is clear that the staff are all doing their bit so they can make as big a charity donation as possible.

Jaclyn said: "We're collecting all our tips and they will be going towards advent calendars, food, toiletries and then it's a bonus if a client wants to make a donation (to our collection) as well.

"Rather than giving us a bottle of wine or chocolates we've asked for donations. It's lovely to give back because our kids are very fortunate.

She added how in the past she was always spontaneously "buying rubbish for my kids" and so this year decided to put her money towards charity.

Jaclyn added: "If it helps five kids I'll be buzzing. If it helps 50 I'll be even more ecstatic."