Pied Piper Charity Hit By Flood

6 October 2014, 17:20 | Updated: 8 October 2014, 10:38

Catwalk Model

A Gloucestershire children’s charity is appealing for donations of second-hand designer clothes after half of its stock for a fundraising fashion show was wrecked by flooding.

It takes Pied Piper volunteers a year to build up enough garments for the charity’s annual fashion event at Gloucester’s Blade Volkswagen showroom. But a flood in its storeroom over the summer has left it short for the catwalk show and clothing sale.

With just 10 days to go until models strut their stuff, the charity is appealing for extra donations of quality used clothes. Wendy Fabian, spokeswoman for the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital based charity said:

“The show will go on. But to put on a good show and have plenty of stock available to ladies, we’ve had to pull out all the stops asking for donations. We need to raise £3,000 from the evening to fund equipment and pay for a paediatric epilepsy and oncology nurse to liaise with poorly children in their own homes.”

Blocked drains and heavy rain on July 19 and 20 meant floodwater poured into Pied Piper’s storeroom, wrecking hundreds of pounds worth of designer clothes destined to be worn by professional models on the night and then sold to members of the audience to raise funds. Wendy said:

“We lost about half of our stock. It takes us a full 12 months to collect enough good quality items to put this show on, and so it was half a year's work washed away. A lot of the garments were dry clean only, and by the time we got it all out and sorted, lots of items had colours running into each other and we just couldn’t rescue them.”

The fashion show and quality used clothes sale, sponsored by Cream hairdressing, based in Cheltenham and Gloucester, takes place on Thursday, October 16 at the new Blade Volkswagen showroom in Bristol Road, Quedgeley. The night starts at 7pm, and tickets, which include a welcome drink, cost £5. Donations of quality second-hand clothes can be taken to the charity’s office at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. Buy tickets for the fashion show on 0300 422 6119 or visit www.piedpiperappeal.co.uk