27 November 2020
Samara, Marketing Executive for the Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show 2021 and current MSc student at the Business School discusses this unique annual fundraising event.
The Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show (ECFS), next running in 2021, is a large student-run event that has raised Β£48,000 for charities over the last four years.
The aim behind ECFS is to showcase an innovative and collaborative project of artistic talent. The annual production is led by hard-working, dedicated students, demonstrating the powerful impact that can arise from a shared vision and motivation to help others.
Last year, ECFS was able to fundraise a phenomenal Β£13,000 for Macmillan and It's Good 2 Give, two notable charities that support those affected by cancer. This year, the team aspires to make a significant contribution through various exciting fundraising opportunities and ECFS ticket sales. The selected charities for this year are Show Racism the Red Card and Centrepoint.
Challenging Racism
Show Racism the Red Card is one of the largest anti-racism educational charities in the UK. It aims to tackle racism by using the power and influence of football, and prominent players, to raise awareness and spread an anti-racism message. They have also recently begun working with role models from other sports.
Every year, Show Racism the Red Card provides educational sessions to 50,000 individuals across the UK. Additionally, they produce educational resources and activities which are designed to challenge misconceptions, stereotypes, and negative attitudes in society.
Fundraising for Youth Homelessness
Centrepoint is the UK's leading youth homelessness charity, supporting over 14,000 young people every year. They provide homeless people with accommodation, health support, and life skills in order for them to get back into education, training, and employment. Additionally, they offer excellent programmes about housing, health, education, policy and research, engagement, and moving on. Ultimately, Centrepoint strives to help individuals transition from homelessness towards a bright and positive future.
Beauty from Distortion
Every year, ECFS creates a theme for their production. They have chosen to use the surreal social climate of recent months with this year's theme, Distortion. This show will explore aspects of contemporary events that have 'distorted' various boundaries, altering our perspectives of what we once thought defined our status quo.
Distortion will question interactions between society and the natural world, between safety and uncertainty. While these recent times may have seemed surreal, warped, and even unforgiving, ECFS hopes to use this show to remind people of the beauty that can emerge from such distortion, and redefine the way we see and perceive such strange times.
The 2021 ECFS committee is very hard at work and devoted to bringing the student body together to showcase this phenomenal initiative. You can follow their social media pages to stay up to date about news regarding the show. This includes their upcoming Christmas raffle, featuring a wide range of beautiful and sustainable products from independent local businesses, which you can purchase through the link in their Instagram bio.
Samara is a student on the MSc Marketing programme and Marketing Executive for the Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show 2021.