Videos aus unserem Barbershop am Ruski Pametnik Über 120.000 Menschen folgen uns

A montage of the series' strongest moments. Voices we don't forget: "There is only one love." "What happiness without the people I love." We're looking for people whose stories deserve to be heard. We come to you, listen, and give you a new haircut. Write to The Blades Studio – your story could be next.

Apostol is 54, from Lom. He came to Sofia to work in construction. Then a serious operation left him unable to work, and since May he has slept on benches. "Thank God, I'm living a second life," he says.

His parents are gone. His relatives can't support him, and at night on the street he's afraid – two or three days ago he was attacked. His dream is simple: to be off the street. We cut his hair in the park and leave him money and food for the next few days.

Nayden has been through a lot. Once he won a large sum and spent it in a month – "in the worst possible way," he says himself. Then came hard years when he went hungry and saw death up close.

Today he lives on the street but won't ask his relatives for help, so as not to worry them. "You always have to be yourself. The truth," he says. When did someone last tell him they love him? "Apart from my mother – no one." He dreams of a woman by his side. At Garibaldi Square we cut his hair and leave him money and food for the next few days.

We offer Martin 20 euros for a haircut. At first he doesn't believe us. There's one condition: the wheel picks the cut. He spins, and fate points to Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders – short on the sides, longer on top. No going back. We cut it right there on the street, and he leaves with the new look and the 20 euros. What would you rate it from 1 to 10?

Valyo is 33, from Chelopechene. He has lived on the street for more than ten years. Still a schoolboy, he came home one day and learned his mother had died. He was left alone. As a kid he dreamed of running a bank – "but it didn't happen," he says with a smile.

In the morning his first thought is coffee and a cigarette. His last haircut was a year ago. If he could change one thing, he'd want to see his mother once more. What would he tell her? "I love you, Mum." Alexander takes off the long hair and shapes the beard. Then we bring him kebapcheta and kyufteta and leave him money for the days ahead.

Miro is 21, from Belogradchik. At 19 he applied to the fire service and became a firefighter. He came to Sofia alone, took out a loan and bought a flat. He also plays football – two firefighter teammates are the ones who told him about the job.

Shifts last 24 hours. The bell can ring at three in the morning and you don't know where you're going. Last summer he spent three days fighting a forest fire. "When you see the gratitude in people's eyes, it warms your heart," he says. He's in a hurry for training, we have 20 minutes. Enough for a textured crop with a fade.

Denis studies at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy. In second year the workload grew, his motivation vanished and he dropped out. He tried an online business – Shopify, marketing, sales. It turned out much harder than he thought. So he went back to university to give it a second chance.

"Without discipline and action, ideas stay just ideas," he says. He also has advice from a book: give yourself the advice you'd give a close friend. Alex gives him a fresh summer cut with a fade. "Great, really fresh," says Denis.

After episode 24 many of you wrote to us. "Thanks to you, we raised 1,000 euros for Anton." We sit down with him at a table and ask how it feels to think he could sleep in a place of his own. "I'm ready," he says.

Now the most important thing is to find him a room where he can sleep in peace, and a job so he can move forward. If you can help, or know someone who can, message us or share the video. Sometimes one share reaches the right person.

Rumelin spins The Blades wheel for 20 euros and fate picks sharp, textured spikes in Brad Pitt style. No going back. The clippers start right there in the park, and Rumelin gets his 20 euros. Does it suit him? Would you risk a haircut chosen by the wheel?

Anton is 47 and sleeps on a bench. At night he is afraid. Some days there is nothing to eat. His right arm hurts, and he has no health insurance.

We ask about his dream. At first he says he has none. Then: peace, somewhere to sleep, "a pastry and a yoghurt" in the morning. And a job, guarding something as a security guard. Alexander refreshes his head and shapes his beard, and we leave him money and food for the next few days. Anton asks everyone watching: "Help the people who need it."

Atanas is 66, from Pernik. He came to Sofia almost 30 years ago, when the factories in Pernik closed. His wife died eight years ago. He has lived on the street for years and eats where food is handed out to the homeless. His daughters are married, with kids. They ask him to live with them, but he doesn't want to be a burden.

He changed his SIM card and no longer has their numbers. "You get used to it," he says quietly. If his family were behind the camera, he would tell them he misses them and loves them. Alexander cuts his white hair in the park, and we leave him money and food for the next few days.

Rosen is 48, from Sofia, and has worked in construction all his life. He isn't happy. He split from the woman he loves because of drinking and chose the street himself. "I'm punishing myself," he explains. He hasn't had a drink in three months.

Every morning the first thing he does is write to her. When she answers, his day is good. The lesson life has taught him: money doesn't bring happiness. "What happiness is there without the people I love?" Alexander gives him a fresh cut, and we leave him money and food for the next few days. We hope the three months become a year.

A new street game. We offer money to people who agree to the haircut the wheel picks. We start at 10 euros and add 10 more with every refusal. The first ones say no. At 30 euros Kalin says yes and spins.

The wheel stops on Mbappé. A short cut in the French striker's style follows, right on the spot. Kalin walks off with a new look and 30 euros in his pocket. Would you spin The Blades Studio wheel?

Moisey is 30 and grew up in Fakulteta, often without electricity or water, and sometimes without food on the table. At 11 his family moved to Lyulin, and a lot began to change in him. At school, though, he wasn't easily accepted.

He found strength in the church, a place where he was accepted as he is. Today he helps many people and has worked as an interpreter at a large conference. To those who are struggling he says: "Being at rock bottom right now doesn't mean it's the end." In front of St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral he gets a textured fade and a beard trim.

Nasko, or Afanasiy, was born in Ukraine. He is a Bessarabian Bulgarian, part of a community of about 250,000 people who kept their language, songs and dances for 200 years far from Bulgaria. Nine years ago he decided to come back.

In front of NDK he teaches us words from his dialect: nobody there says "prozorets" for window, they say "pendzher" or "dzham". In Bulgaria he has never met any hostility. "The future is here, we build it with our actions," he says. We take the sides short, not down to zero. "I look like a young pioneer," Nasko laughs.

Andrei is 50, from Bucharest, and has lived in Bulgaria for 11 years. He stays for the people, the food and the fun. At first Cyrillic was the hardest part. Today he says: "I already feel Bulgarian here."

He spends his free time outside the apartment block with the neighbours, talking politics and fixing cars. He runs a small family business, buying second-hand goods in Greece and selling them in Romania. His advice to young people starting out: have lots of friends and respect them. We cut his hair and trim his beard. "Wonderful," says Andrei.

Roman remembers the Luna Park next to Vasil Levski Stadium and the bumper cars he drove there as a young man. He studied at the conservatory but left because he didn't want to sing Russian songs. Now he is ill and admits he isn't well.

We ask him to sing something. He hasn't sung in years, but he starts, and the voice is still there. His advice is short: "Love each other, respect each other." After a classic cut and a beard trim he looks in the mirror for a long time. "I feel younger," he says, and we agree he has lost at least ten years.

This time the clippers stay in the bag. Mitko sits down next to Grandpa Vladimir and simply asks how he is. "Financially – bad," he answers. He pays about 400 leva in rent and struggles to reach the end of the month. His father died when he was five, his mother when he was in fourth grade. He has been on his own ever since.

"We go around the city looking for ways to help people in need," Mitko says, and gives him some money. Grandpa Vladimir smiles and wishes us health. This is the first episode of "Voice of the Street".

Emilian is 14 and studies pop and jazz singing at the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music. With friends from school he has a band of eight. They still have no name: the audience made suggestions, nothing stuck, so they stayed "the band with no name". His favourite artist is Bill Withers, and he sings us one of his songs.

The Bansko jazz festival is coming up for them. His advice to anyone starting out in music: "Never give up and be persistent." We freshen up his curls with a fade. "Awesome haircut, I really like it," he says.

We find Anton in the park and ask his mum and dad first. He's 8, has played the violin for three years, and loves chess and climbing trees. His favourite subject is maths. "Four times four?" – "16." "Six times six?" – "36." Mitko just shakes his head: at that age he couldn't count that fast.

He has medals from school too. He asks for "a cool haircut" with something drawn in, so we do a short fade with a line on the side. His message to his friends: study hard, or you'll never catch up with him.

Yordan is 53. He has lived in Sofia since he was small and went to school here. He has had no home since 1989. His life turned when he lost the woman he loved, and it has been a hard road since.

We ask what he would wish for if he had three wishes. He answers straight away: "A girlfriend, a place to live, and a family." Outside the National Theatre we take the sides short and sweep his grey hair back. He likes what he sees. We leave him money and food for the next few days. We wish him a change in his life, and we believe it can happen.

Todor was born in Plovdiv and lived in Lukovit. There was no work there for people in his situation, so six years ago he moved to Sofia on his own. He moved his things himself and found a job at a metalwork plant himself. "I don't want to be a burden to anyone," he says.

As a child he dreamed of walking. He knows it won't happen. So he asks one thing of everyone: don't be ashamed of people like him and don't run away. "When you see me, say hello. It's not contagious. Be kind and be human." We give him a short cut with a fade. "It's great, really cool," Todor says.

Grandpa Zlatil is 76, retired, and has lived in Sofia for 30 years. His children are in Canada and visit every year. His wife has been gone for 30 years. They met at university. He talks about her with so much love, as if she just stepped out: "She's a person you meet once in a lifetime."

"When you love someone, time doesn't matter," he says. His advice to the young: there is only one love. After the haircut and beard trim he looks in the mirror and laughs: "I'm a wonderful grandpa." At the end he greets his children and tells them he loves them.

Niki is from Byala Slatina. He grew up in a children's home, then came to Sofia and worked four and a half years in a meat-processing plant. Twice he fell seriously ill with his lungs and can no longer work. He has no pension. He has lived on the street for years, and the nights are cold.

We ask what he would tell people. "To love themselves and help others." Mitko takes the sides short and shapes the beard, keeping the length Niki likes. Then we give him food and some money for the days ahead. "May God help you," he says as he leaves.

Simon is from Belgium, and the conversation starts in a mix of languages until we switch to English. He works in a hospital, helping people with depression. "Everyone has those bad days," he says, like someone who knows what he's talking about.

He tells us that as a kid he also thought about a career in filmmaking. On a pedestrian street on a sunny spring day he gets a fade with texture on top. At the end he looks in the mirror and gives us a big smile.

In BNT's "Otblizo" report, Dimitar and Alexander Dimitrov explain where the idea came from. In the shop they hear stories every day, and one of the brothers studied film directing. So they took to the street to give free haircuts in exchange for a story.

They soon saw that the homeless needed it most. So they also started buying food, but the most important thing is that someone listens. "Our problems aren't that big," one of them says, "when there are people who have it ten times harder." The best part: viewers then go out and help the people from the videos themselves. Eighteen-year-old Ivan joins the barbers too.

Dimitar is from Sofia, graduated from a music school and plays piano, drums and guitar. Now he's learning to code, because "there too you create things, like in music".

Four years ago he went through three operations, and doctors gave him a one percent chance. His family are believers. He prayed, and a week later he was walking, talking and eating again. He tells it calmly in front of NDK while his curly hair is shaped with scissors. He looks in the mirror: "Exactly how I imagined it."

We hear the saxophone from afar. It's Vladimir, known to everyone as Dango. He learned at 16 from his father and brother, in a family where every generation plays music. He once played in his brothers' brass band. Today he plays on the street every day to put bread on his family's table.

"People respect me," he says. We refresh his look on the spot, then leave him something for food and a little support. If you pass the National Theatre and hear a saxophone, stop for Dango.

Tisho is from Knezha. He came to Sofia for a promised job, but the people who promised it cheated him and took everything. For a few days he slept under Serdika metro station, then spent six months in a crisis centre.

"They say people have angels," he says. His came and gave him a hand. Today Tisho works in an office, rents a flat and makes TikTok videos, haters and all. For them he has one line: walk in my shoes first, then criticise me. On Vitosha Boulevard, where he held an advertising sign for years, we give him a modern haircut. Happy holidays from us.

Malin is 19, looking for work, and makes motivational workout videos on YouTube. There's a long road behind them. As a small child he suffered a serious injury, and his parents took him to hospitals at home and abroad until he largely recovered. At school he faced bullying, which he talks about calmly today.

His advice is simple: "Don't give up and believe in yourselves." The barber jokes that a little more and he'll motivate him too. We do a skin fade with curly texture and a line on the side. "It's brutal," Malin says at the mirror.

"Whatever you decide" – that's Metodiy's answer when we ask how to cut his hair. For two years he has lived alone in an abandoned house where "nobody bothers him". He has been married three times. His best memory is from the years when he had a family.

We ask what he would tell his family today. The answer is one word: "Sorry." Then the scissors come out. His grey hair gets shorter, the beard is shaped, and Metodiy laughs: "God sent you to me." Before we part, we buy him groceries for the next few days and leave him some money.

Alex is 28 and has been a bartender for almost 15 years. He loves the job for the people, but his real dream is different: to bring positive energy to everyone around him.

While Mitko gives him a mid fade, Alex shares something he learned only recently: he was adopted. He doesn't hide that it was a shock, but says: "Better late than never." He wants to know where he comes from, even if it hurts, and then start fresh. His advice is short: "Be good, do good." Thank you for trusting us, Alex.

Bobi is from Varna and has been dancing for ten years. It started by chance: walking past a dance school with his mum, he signed up for one class and never stopped. Hip-hop, popping, a bit of breaking – "but I can't spin on my head," he laughs.

He moved to Sofia to keep growing. In the middle of the night, out on the street, we give him a short, fresh cut with a fade. He loves it, and keeps his promise: he dances right there on the pavement. Want the same cut? You know where we are – Ruski Pametnik, right on the roundabout.

Stefan is 27, grew up in Sofia and is in his fourth year of computer science. He's been coding for almost four years. He admits the motivation was simple at first: "I needed money."

This time the barber tells his story too. Mitko started at 15 cutting friends' hair at home, then spent three and a half years at an academy. "I started from zero," he says, and today he and his brother run a shop on Ruski Pametnik. We do a mid fade from zero with texture on top. Stefan looks up: "That's the best fade I've ever seen."

He walks past with platinum curls and first wants to watch how we cut. Then he sits down. He's 11, has played football for a year and his idol is Neymar. About his mum he says it simply: she always backs him.

We give him a skin fade with a line on the side and keep the curls on top, just cleaner. Before the mirror he admits: "I can't wait to see it." We invite him to The Blades Studio on Ruski Pametnik, where he can play a round of FIFA while he waits.

"Today we're giving someone a free haircut in Sofia." That's how it all began. By the fountains at NDK we stop a young guy from Lyulin. He trains fitness and grappling, his idol is Charles Oliveira, and he wants to compete professionally. "Or become a coach," he says.

He wants it short, so we give him a buzz cut with a fade. We tell him not to give up: dreaming is easy, getting there is the hard part. If you like the cut, you'll find us at our barbershop on Ruski Pametnik.