AS a famous supermodel and the former wife of a rock star Jerry Hall has quite a collection of dresses.And the generous 51-year-old has now emptied her wardrobe to help a charity which is soon to open a new centre in Colchester.
Annie Davidson
AS a famous supermodel and the former wife of a rock star Jerry Hall has quite a collection of dresses.
And the generous 51-year-old has now emptied her wardrobe to help a charity which is soon to open a new centre in Colchester.
Emmaus, which cares for homeless adults and has self sufficient communities across the UK, has been given dresses to auction by Miss Hall, including the one she wore when she wed Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger.
The auction, Passion for Fashion, takes place on June 10 at auctioneer Sotheby's Olympia sales rooms and will be presented by Kerry Taylor Auctions.
Miss Hall said she was impressed by the fact that Emmaus gave people who had fallen on hard times a sense of their own potential.
She said: “I have led a very glamorous life in many ways, but I know all too well how quickly lives can become derailed.
“I have been fortunate enough to have always had plenty of support, but not everyone is as lucky.
“It is easier than you might think to lose everything. Anyone could become homeless.
“Emmaus Communities provide a supportive, secure family environment and the people who live there help themselves and each other to create their own second chances.
“Emmaus is a simple concept; taking unwanted goods and lives that have become difficult and finding a purpose for both, but its impact is phenomenal.
“I have seen at first hand the lasting difference it makes.
“I am so pleased to think that my dresses can lead a new lease of life in someone else's wardrobe and at the same time contribute towards creating future Emmaus Communities.”
Lesley Corner, project director for Emmaus Colchester, said: “It is fantastic that a high profile person would go to such trouble to raise funds for homeless people.
“It is fantastic for us and any proceeds will be really, really welcome.
“We are opening a new community in Colchester in the next few months and we need funding for staffing and fitting the place out.”
Emmaus Colchester's new community is opposite Aldi in Magdalen Street and has space for 20 residents.
Homeless people will be given the rooms with no time limit and will live communally while undertaking training to help them find jobs and support themselves in their own homes.
The Emmaus furniture store in Arthur Street, Colchester, is currently run by volunteers but will have the community members working in it in the near future.
Since it opened nine years ago the shop has raised £200,000 towards the Magdalen Street building by selling donated furniture some of which the volunteers restore first.
There are already 15 other Emmaus Communities across the UK in which previously homeless people live and work.
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