Hameedia, Sri Lanka's leading menswear brand that is synonymous with style and quality, donated Rs.1 million to Indira Cancer Trust (ICT) at a ceremony organised recently, continuing the strong partnership built in the recent years between both organisations. The donation was the latest sales proceeds from Hameedia’s ‘Pink Collection’ range, a special all-pink clothing collection for ladies and gents specially designed and marketed by Hameedia to support the ICT. This was an initiative under the social responsibility promise of the Hameedia Group's My Friend Foundation, an organization focused on improving the lives of children in underprivileged communities.

The Chief Guest at the ceremony was celebrated cricketing personality Roshan Mahanama while the event was also graced by the presence of Dr. Lanka Jayasuriya Dissanayake - Chairperson/Trustee of the Indira Cancer Trust (ICT) Foundation, together with Fouzul Hameed - Managing Director of Hameedia and Certified Menswear Image Consultant (USA) and several other invitees and Hameedia team members.

Last year, Hameedia commemorated International Women’s Day with a number of educative and interesting events, one of which focused on ensuring the health and well-being of the staff by creating awareness about breast cancer and was organised in collaboration with the Indira Cancer Trust. This awareness programme shed light on this often unspoken of disease that affects millions of women across the world. Since early last year, Hameedia also participated in ICT’s ‘On Wednesdays we wear pink’ campaign where the purpose of wearing pink every Wednesday was to raise awareness about breast cancer as well as the lifesaving TLC method which can help women to detect abnormalities through self-examinations. This simple but powerful message of the ICT’s campaign, in partnership with the National Cancer Control Programme of the Ministry of Health, has raised awareness about breast cancer. It was a continuation of ICT's breast cancer awareness month campaign, ‘TLC: Touch, Look, Check’ of October 2020.

Sharing his views, Fouzul Hameed commented, “At Hameedia, we value our female workforce and believe in providing them with equal opportunities to progress in their career and succeed in life. One of the key elements of doing so is by ensuring that they are in good health. The Indira Cancer Trust (ICT) Foundation’s impactful ‘TLC: Touch, Look, Check’ and the subsequent ‘On Wednesdays we wear pink’ have been instrumental in raising awareness and triggering meaningful conversations about breast cancer. We are proud to have been a part of these incredible campaigns and will continue to work with the Indira Cancer Trust Foundation into the future.”

Established in 1949, Hameedia has grown to become leaders and trendsetters in the Sri Lankan retail fashion industry having always delivered expert custom tailoring and the best in men’s fashion. Hameedia is a multi-brand retail store that offers customers optimal satisfaction in terms of a world-class retail experience and high-quality products merged with global trends. Hameedia’s collection of quality menswear brands include Envoy London, Le Bond, Signature, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe, Park Avenue, Allen Solly, Killer Wrangler, Raymond, and Adidas.

Launch of the Sonduru Diriyawanthi Theme song

Indira Cancer Trust has once again teamed up with Ramani Fernando Salons to re-launch the much awaited Hair Donation programme in Sri Lanka on 20 July 2022, exactly 5 years after it was first launched on the 20 July 2017. To date there have been 121,267 persons donating their hair which enabled us to produce 3000+ wigs which have been distributed free of charge to Cancer patients around the Country who have lost their hair following chemotherapy.

Anyone who has at least 15 inches of hair in length (if layered, the shortest layer should be 15 inches) can contact any of the 12 Ramani Fernando Salons in Sri Lanka, make an appointment and donate their hair. In addition, cut hair that fits the specifications provided can also be posted directly to Indira Cancer Trust. All donated hair within the specified guidelines will receive a certificate of appreciation on the day at the Ramani Fernando Salon or posted to them. The cut hair has to be clean, free of oil, hairspray, gel, mousse or any other material; all types of hair are accepted including hair that is coloured, straightened, permed or even grey hair. All the cut hair from the Salons are collected by Indira Cancer Trust for production of wigs for patients with cancer.

Indira Cancer Trust was set up by former speaker of Parliament Hon Karu Jayasuriya after the loss of his daughter Indira Jayasuriya from Breast Cancer in 2016. The hair and wig donation programme is one of the 20 programmes conducted by the trust to support patients and families with cancer.  Ramani Fernando Salons is one of the foremost chain of Hair and Beauty salons in Sri Lanka and the partnership between Indira Cancer Trust and the Ramani Fernando Salons have created a unique programme of hair donations which is the first continuous hair donation program in the world.

Although the wig donation to patients with cancer has occurred since commencing the Hair Donation programme in 2017, the launch of “Sonduru Diriyawanthi” – a National Campaign in October 2021 enabled the wig donation to be established in 10 leading hospitals treating patients with cancer throughout the country. Sonduru Diriyawanthi was set up by Kumarika of Hemas Consumer Brands together with Lions Clubs of Aluthgama Bentota and Galkissa of District 306A1, and together with the coordination and support of the Ministry of Health and the Sri Lanka College of Oncologists. At the hair donation re-launch a song composed for “ Sonduru Diriyawanthi “ was launched With the support of  popular singers Sohan and Corrine,

At the re-launch of the hair donation campaign, Hemas Consumer Brands gave their employees the opportunity to take part in this worthy initiative.  Volunteers from all Sub Business Units across Hemas Holdings volunteered to donate their hair.

The process of wig making from the donated hair was initially done by hand which was a timely and a costly affair and now they are stitched using machines and are continuously being upgraded to cater to the production requirement of 600 wigs a month.

Re-starting the Hair Donation programme is a milestone again for Indira Cancer Trust as well as Ramani Fernando Salons and we have ensured that donated hair is used effectively to produce a natural hair wig for patients who have lost their hair following chemotherapy. The Hair Donation campaign is an ongoing programme. Anyone interested in donating hair, in sponsoring a wig or in need of a wig, can connect to the Indira Cancer Trust FB, Instagram or website or call the Helpline on 0112363211 for more information.

 Photo Caption : Attendees from Indra Cancer Trust and Hemas Holdings at the relaunch event, donating hair