A FITTING NIGHT AS LINGERIE INDUSTRY RAISES £52,000 FOR RETAIL TRUST & FTCT
Celebrities and representatives of the lingerie and swimwear sector were out in force at The Savoy tonight for a sizzling summer spectacular, the annual Contour Fashion Ball, which raised a staggering £52,000 for Retail Trust and the Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust.
The event, sponsored by INVISTA, Panache and Fashion Forms saw celebrities Caprice, Wayne Hemingway, Kim Jacob and Aliza Reger party the night away with the lucky guests who managed to get a ticket to the sell-out event, hosted by TV and celebrity style guru Mark Heyes. The Joe Stilgoe Quartet provided sultry summer sounds on the dance floor.
The auction raised a massive £10,000 with 5 nights in The Four Seasons Resort, Mauritius being the must-have lot of the event. A number of sizzling prizes were donated, including an Ann Summers mystery box!
Sharon Webb, Chairwoman of the Contour Committee and Head of Buying and Design – Lingerie, said: “It’s so exciting to be part of a sell-out event where the industry come together to not only enjoy themselves, but to really support our charities. When I took on this role, I set a target of raising £50,000. A big thank you to all who contributed and helped us raise the highest amount on record for this event.”
Nigel J L Rothband, Retail Trust Chief Executive said: “We are overwhelmed with the support from everyone involved in the Contour Ball, especially the hard working committee. The £52,000 raised is a fantastic sum enabling Retail Trust and FTCT to provide crucial services to people in retail.”
Anna Pangbourne, Director of FTCT, commented: “We are thrilled to be working with The Contour Ball again this year; it’s a wonderful event and we are so grateful to everyone who has generously given their time to make tonight such a success. Thank you!”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
Retail Trust - www.retailtrust.org.uk
Retail Trust (registered charity numbers 1090136 and SC039684) is the only charity that looks after the needs of all 3 million people working in retail and currently provides grants and services of approximately £1.5 million per annum to people who are working in or have worked in the retail industry or associated businesses.
The Retail Trust Helpline is a free and confidential service that provides vital support and a range of services including: free counselling, free legal advice, free debt advice, redundancy support through their ReWork programme, hardship grants, course funding, as well as retirement housing for retired retailers throughout the UK. The Retail Trust Helpline can be accessed online at www.retailtrust.org.uk/help, by calling 0808 801 0808, emailing helpline@retailtrust.org.uk or by texting the word ‘HELPLINE’ to 88010* with any request or query.
In the past year alone, requests coming through to The Retail Trust Helpline for counselling have increased by 125%. Retail staff needing debt advice has increased by 50%. Requests for redundancy support are up 40%, and demand for critical incident support has grown by a massive 229%.
The Retail Trust Employee Assistance Programme is the only EAP that is designed specifically for retailers by retailers and is run exclusively for retail and associated businesses. Retail Trust currently has over 120 EAP partners throughout the retail sector and associated businesses.
Contour Ball 2012 - www.thecontourfashionball.com
Headline sponsors of the Contour Ball were INVISTA – owner of the LYCRA® fibre brand, bra accessories specialist Fashion Forms and leading British lingerie and swimwear brand Panache.Donations can be made to the two charities via JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/The-Contour-Ball
Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust (FTCT) - www.ftct.org.uk
The Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust (registered charity number 257136) is a unique organisation which is able to offer financial support to help the children of people working in the UK fashion and textile industry.
Founded in 1853, the grants we provide make a huge difference to both past and present employees, across all aspects of the industry including; womenswear, menswear, bridalwear, lingerie, hosiery, soft accessories and footwear.
Our grants support hundreds of families across the UK fashion & textile industry, providing support for children and young people who are suffering due to medical, social and often economic issues.
Each case is treated individually and our small and friendly team of just 4 people are always on hand to listen to and consider every parents and carers phonecall. Even if we can’t help the family directly, we will always try to put them in touch with someone from our network of partner support agencies, who could. For more information call Anna on 020 7170 4117
Twitter @RetailTrust @FTCT and @contourball
Facebook Retail Trust: www.facebook.com/RetailTrust FTCT: www.facebook.com/FTCT1853
T: 020 8358 7258 / 07783 199050
jpaton@retailtrust.org.uk
