Next up in our fundraiser Q&A series is Lindsay Robertson who has organised a fashion show and pop up shop to support our work with refugees. Lindsay’s event will take place in South Queensferry, Scout Hall in Port Edgar this Saturday (14 November), just in time to inspire people’s winter wardrobes!
Fashion AND fundraising? Tell us more, Lindsay.
The fashion show has been co-organised with Manchester professional creative agency Colours and will be showcasing a range of Autumn/Winter high street fashion from leading brand names such as Marks and Spencer’s, Wallace and Topshop (to name a few) who have donated for the event. Attendees will be greeted with a glass of bubbles on arrival, and after the show there will be an opportunity for people to try on and purchase the clothes. Many of the brands will also be offering a discount of 30-50% on the day.
In addition to the show, there is also going to be bespoke fashion and accessories designed by refugees in Scotland for sale in a pop up shop. The night will end with the chance for people to win luxury items in a raffle.
What was your motivation for organising the event?
Like many people this summer I was deeply affected by the images of refugees in the media. A local group of mums in South Queensferry, including myself, decided we wanted to take action. It all started by getting a collection together in the community. We gathered bags of clothes and supplies to send to refugee camps across Europe.
I began to realise there are a lot of people already in Scotland who are in desperate need of help. I looked up the Scottish Refugee Council’s website and read some of the stories on there from people who had already arrived and had nowhere to turn; I wanted to raise funds to help.
What challenges did you face?
Collaborating with the agency ‘Colours’ took a lot of the weight of management away from me.. The agency organise the models on the day amongst other things. I’ve also really felt a lot of support from the community. The hall kindly gave us a discount as a venue; we also got some great donations from local businesses for the raffle. These have included a family day pass for Deep Sea World and vouchers for local pubs and venues. An individual even donated a £100 watch completely out of the blue! The mums of course have been helping me promote it as much as possible through local groups and social media.
Tickets are still available for this event and cost just £7 which includes a glass of bubbly. To purchase a ticket to the fashion show, please contact Lindsay by email: lindsayrobertson2198@yahoo.co.uk or call: 07518542655.
Thanks Lindsay and to everyone involved in this weekend’s fashion show.
If you are organising a fundraiser or doing a challenge to raise funds for Scottish Refugee Council, and would like to be included in one of our blogs, please email Sorcha.
