A LITTLE bit of the fabulous came to Crediton’s Boniface Centre recently in the guise of a Charity Fashion Show.

Crediton Tesco Superstore at Wellparks and Mole Avon Town & Country Stores collaborated to raise funds for local charities, Hospiscare and The Turning Tides Project.

The models, all of whom were volunteers, paraded down the catwalk to the joy of the enthusiastic crowd who clapped and cheered the mix of professional and improvisation displayed by the men, women and children who had put themselves in the spotlight.

The evening turned out to be a resounding success with all seats being taken and standing room only available by the time the Milan-esque event kicked off. With the auction, raffle and bar the event raised a magnificent £1,697.30.

The show was divided into two halves with Mole Avon merchandise starting the show and Tesco wares being highlighted in the second half.

During the interval, The Turning Tides Project wowed those present with a beautiful acoustic music set which was very much appreciated by everyone.

The evening closed with an auction of items donated by the organising companies and presentations to "Granny Egington" who had provided a amazing donation of £100 and to two of the organisers, Steph Firth and Jan Simpson, who had been invaluable in the process of putting the show together, providing enthusiasm and experience to add to the ideas and input from the rest of the organising team.

Lauren Cook, marketing and events executive at Mole Avon Country Stores explained: "We showcased a range of our ladieswear, menswear and childrenswear products as well as our school uniforms, workwear and equestrian.

"These were all ranges from some of our core brands including Joules, Barbour, Weirdfish and LazyJacks. All of which are available from our stores at Axminster, Crediton & Okehampton.

"We look forward to welcoming you all in to our new Country Store opening this autumn, in Crediton, just opposite Tesco."

The Crediton Tesco community champion, Andrew Drayton, was enthused by the response of the audience and overwhelmed by the support from the volunteers and organising team. He said: “When we first muted the idea of this event, there was a vague idea of what we wanted to do and how the evening would pan out and to see this progress from those ideas to the brilliant evening that was delivered was inspiring.

"The main ethos behind what we wanted to achieve was an entertaining evening that would be fun to both attend and take part in.”

He continued: “From the first models that took to the stage to the last parade, the audience totally bought into the show and the ambience that they created enabled the models, many of whom were very nervous before the event, to have the confidence to express themselves. This reciprocation and interaction created a fantastic atmosphere.”

The two local organisations that the event provided funding for were extremely happy with the funds raised which will go a long way to helping them deliver the services that they specialise in.

Rebecca Botfield, Mid Devon community fundraiser for Hospiscare said: "We are really happy that this event happened.

"We rely on the support of local people and events like this make a huge difference and raise awareness for the charity.

"A lot of work went into the event and we would like to thank everyone especially Janet and Steph who came up with the idea for the event."

Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.

The other charity to benefit from the event is the Turning Tides Project who believe that everyone has the right of equal access to music, the arts and life - the aim is to make this a reality for people with "learning disability" or "autism" labels in Devon.

Dominic Palfreman, one of the The Turning Tides Projects company managers, who spoke at the event and performed with The Turning Tides Band during the interval explained: "Ben, Poppy, Bradley, Hugo, Bill and Kier were all models from The Turning Tides Project and stole the show! The Fashion Show also marked the first partial displaying of our #InclusiveInk community art project, we also had our stall there - displaying our handmade items that can be purchased online and weren’t worn on the runway. The Funds from the fashion will help us work with Tesco on a project called ’Turning Tesco #Inclusive’."

Andrew said: “I’d like to thank everyone who gave their time and effort to put on this outstanding show.

"To everyone in the organising team, the models, the ladies from the Crediton Friends of Hospiscare who both ran the bar and made an extraordinary amount selling raffle tickets.

"Thank you to everyone back stage who prepared the models; the dressers who got them show-ready and the hair and make-up team for their wonderful efforts.

"Thanks to the Boniface Centre for being great hosts and to every local business and organisation who donated a raffle prize.

"This was an event that saw the Crediton Community give willingly for the benefit of others and, yet again, I am amazed at the response of people to be able to do that.”