Rags to Riches

Youth Arts

Rags to Riches was a four month youth project that recycled old clothes and materials and turned them into fashionable outfits for all occasions. During this project there were various workshops set up, at City of Ely Community College, for us to learn new skills and make accessories for our outfits. There was bag making, shoe making and even a junk monster making workshop, but I think the favourite workshop for everyone was the screen printing. We also had trips to Cambridge and London to see some existing fashion and use them to inspire our own ideas. After the months of work and preparation we put on a fashion show at the Regal in Littleport to share with the public what we had been doing and to raise money for our selected charity, Teenage Cancer Trust. At the end of the night we managed to raise over £100, which is a great achievement for all of us involved in the making of it. We had a lot of good comments, Andrew Wright said, “It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. The organizers have clearly put in much research and preparation. It was a credit to all concerned”. Also Linda Rayment said, “It was good to see a group of young people raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust. Rags to Riches was well organised and a great deal of effort had been put into the clothes. I really enjoyed it!” We also received comments from the two presenters Zoe and Kara. Zoe said, “It was a good project to be involved in because we did something for charity.” And Kara said, “It was an amazing experience and I loved working with a great team. My name is Jessica; I was involved in the Rags to Riches project. I went to most of the workshops and made some outfits but I mainly took photos and documented the event. I did this because I am very interested in photography and I thought it would help me develop my skill. We would like to thank all the youth workers that contributed to the night and everyone who helped set up the event. We would also like to thank all the models and everyone who made the outfits and attended the workshops especially Kara and Zoe who presented the entire evening. Also thanks to all the people who ran the workshops and taught us many new skills. Also many thanks to Malcolm white from Teenage Cancer Trust for coming and introducing the charity and explaining what the charity does. Finally many thanks to everyone of the public who joined the night and together managed to raise over £100.