Runway On The Runway - Fashion Fundraiser for Teenage Cancer at Manchester Airport

A friend of mine, together with a loyal group of others, has created, with total dedication over the last 12 months, a unique event called Runway On The Runway. It is a charity fashion show set spectacularly in the shadow of the world's most iconic aircraft, Concorde, in her home at Manchester Airport. The show, which takes place next Thursday, 21st March, is to raise funds for three remarkable charities: Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, Teenage Cancer Trust and Medcare.

The inspiration for the event came from the stories of the extraordinarily brave teenagers who suffer, in alarming numbers, from teenage cancer, one of the most aggressive takers and changers of young lives. One of the biggest issues is the delays which often occur in diagnosis, and the idea behind Runway On The Runway was to invite local schools in Cheshire to become involved, together with the charities and victims themselves, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of so many young people in the north-west and around the country as well.

A host of well-known names in the fashion and media worlds have freely given up their time to help put together what will be a spectacular night. Yet the real stars of the show are the very teenagers for whom this is dedicated to: girls and boys, in the prime of their young lives, suddenly struck down by serious and life-changing illness. Prom night, for all teenagers finishing GCSE's, has become the highlight and culmination of all their hard work and studies at school - the night to celebrate their launch into a more adult phase of their lives. To have this compromised by a sudden and unexpected illness of such a serious and life-threatening nature, is a particularly cruel blow to have to take. And so it was decided that the theme of the evening should be 'Prom'.

The 10 schools involved have been fundraising for a number of months and have been encouraged to come up with lots of innovative ideas to raise money. They have also been engaged in a prom dress design competition and the winners will be showcasing their design on the night. All the schools have also been assigned a dress designer - from established names like Vicky Martin and Ted Baker to new kids on the block such as Manchester based Nicola Metcalfe - and a team of models from each school will be strutting their stuff down the 'Runway' on Thursday night. There will also be stands covering all elements of fashion just to add to the glitzy atmosphere.

At the heart of the show, however, will be the 'Cover Girls' for Runway On The Runway - Alice Pyne, Olivia Cork and Lucie Carrington. Their strength and courage in coming to terms with their illnesses is, quite simply, humbling. Just click on the names below to see their video stories.

Olivia Cork

Lucie Carrington

Alice Pyne

Click HERE to purchase tickets for what will be, without doubt, a very special and memorable event at The Concorde Conference Centre at Manchester Airport this Thursday, 21st March 2013.

 

Comments

Nutty Gnome said…
Thank you for highlighting this. I'd heard of the event, but not the back stories - which are quite inspirational.
I did struggling listening to the girls, but mainly because the 12 year old daughter of a friend of mine has terminal cancer and has a matter of months, at most, to live. So, so difficult for her mum (who is a single parent) and my heart grieves for them both.
Carah Boden said…
Gosh Nutty, that is indeed heart-breaking. I'm so, so sorry...I can hardly bring myself to imagine how one deals with that as a mother.

Most Popular