The Salvage Trashion Show held at St John’s Theatre on the Hill last November raised almost £7,000 for two good causes – Charlie’s Charity and the campaign for St John’s School’s sports facilities. They each received a cheque for £3,475.
Two of the organisers, Jane Lamb and Angela Hobbs, visited St John’s recently to present a cheque to Headteacher Dr Patrick Hazlewood. Jane’s son Charlie was a St John’s student and Charlie’s Charity was set up in his memory following his death on 26 September 2009 at the age of eighteen.
As Jane Lamb explained: “Sport, especially football, played a large part in Charlie’s life, and so the money raised from Trashion will help St John’s to complete its outside sports facilities as well as helping Charlie’s Charity support young people to make the most of sporting opportunities. Trashion proved to be a great way to engage young people and we were lucky to have a wonderful organising committee and a large number of sponsors who enabled us to raise a substantial sum on the night”.
Dr Hazlewood was very pleased to accept the donation for St John’s sports facilities: “We are working hard to raise the remaining funds we need to complete our outside sports facilities, the tennis/netball courts and the artificial grass pitch. Support from events such as Trashion is very important to us and I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in helping to make the evening such a huge success.”
The competition to select designs for the show at St John’s was called Salvage. It was all about designing a wearable item or outfit made from old bits and pieces that were past their wear-by date – making them into something individual and long lasting.
The judges wanted to see how young people could turn their old clothes into tomorrow’s wearable fashion. It proved a great way to encourage creativity and allow the young designers to show off their talents and, at the same time, show awareness of the planet’s future. The results were outstanding.
Out of over 350 entries from several schools in Wiltshire, including seventeen entries from St John’s, the organisers worked with the judges to select the top one hundred and fifty which were showcased at The Trashion Show on 15 November 2010.
Each student who entered a successful design was asked to start sewing. Many of the students modelled their own finished pieces, but for those who preferred to stay on the other side of the runway, friends and relatives were invited to step in.
Numerous prizes were awarded to the category winners including a week’s work experience in the buying department at Marks and Spencer’s Head Office, a week at the London College of Fashion and a day on set with a film company. Local businesses including David Dudley, Kim Vine, Hills, Joules, Fowler Architecture, Haine & Smith & Peter Maclaine sponsored the competition and the show – and many more showed their support by advertising in the programme.
