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PRINTFor immediate release: 25 January 2011
Coats donated by: Sienna Miller and Esther Freud
Visit www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/Wrap_up_against_poverty for links to auctions as they go live
Top celebrities are helping the fight against poverty by donating their coats to the Wrap Up Against Poverty winter coat auction being held by Elizabeth Finn Care.
You could not only boost your style credentials but also help people in financial need buy essential winter clothing by bidding for one of numerous celebrity coats going under the hammer.
Look as uber-trendy as Sienna Miller in her signed Anya Hindmarch for Barbour jacket which she has generous donated. Or follow the military trend in Christine Bleakley’s ultra-chic olive green coat with on-trend military detailing from Monsoon Fusion, or Tamara Ecclestone’s sophisticated black military style coat with gold buttons and frill from Daslu Sao Paulo.
Fearne Cotton has donated a funky faux fur hooded grey leopard print coat from her Very range and fashion house Burberry are offering a VIP shopping trip and the choice of one of their iconic trench coats up to the value of £800. Liking to be different fashion’s favourite Dame has donated a pair of Vivienne Westwood Melissa Lady Dragon Cherry-Green shoes!
There are 13.5 million people living below the poverty line in the UK and Elizabeth Finn Care is hosting the auction because it knows how difficult it is for people in financial need to afford essential winter clothing. Shockingly some 72 per cent of the people the charity helps had to go without new clothes before they came to Elizabeth Finn Care and the aim of the auction is to raise money to help buy more people in financial need essential clothes.
Britain’s Next Top Model finalist Joy McLaren modelled all the coats to show how stylish they can look and she said: “I loved all the coats, they all looked amazing. Hopefully people will cough up the cash, so as much as possible goes to this wonderful charity.”
Celebrity couple Emma Freud and her film director husband Richard Curtis are supporting the auction and have given their coats, a blue French Connection number and black Banana Republic men’s coat, to the worthy cause.
Emma said: “This is the coat I wore to the premier of The Boat That Rocked. I wore a very mini minidress- and this mini coat just covered it. It was one of the coldest days of the year, and I was so cold my lips went purple. Not a good look.”
For those looking for extreme warmth Cherie Blair has donated her 100% cashmere Sorelle Fontana coat which will certainly keep out the chill and actress Lynda Bellingham has given a reversible faux fur Day Birger et Mikkelsen coat.
Novelist Esther Freud is also supporting the campaign.
She said: “The jacket is designed by my sister Bella, a beautiful silky check with a pink stripe which I hope brings happiness to whoever buys it. I hope too that the money raised brings warmth and comfort to someone who may feel they are forgotten.”
Coats have also been donated by Welsh actress Rakie Ayola, actress Ruth Madoc, Julie Hesmondhalgh who plays Hayley in Coronation Street, Ruth Badger from The Apprentice and Miss England Jess Linley.
Malcolm Tyndall, Director at Elizabeth Finn Care, said: “We have some wonderful coats to auction and we really appreciate the celebrities’ generosity. By supporting the auction you could not only win a coat worn by one of your favourite celebrities but you will also be helping us to ensure people in financial need have warm clothes to wear during the winter months.”
The auction begins on eBay on Monday January 31st. Visit www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/Wrap_up_against_poverty for details of our timed listings.
ENDS
For further information and interviews, please contact:
Kellie Smith, Senior Press Officer. Telephone: 020 8834 9263. kellie.smith@elizabethfinn.org.uk. Or Laura Johnston, Press Officer. Telephone: 020 8834 9260. Laura.johnston@elizabethfinn.org.uk. Hythe House, 200 Shepherds Bush Road, London, W6 7NL.
Notes to Editors:
Photographs
• Photographs and detailed description available for all of the coats.
• Thanks to Ermine Works Studios, Pixie Pixels and Joy McLaren from Models One.
• When using images please credit them with the following details: W Piotr Onak
Elizabeth Finn Care
• Elizabeth Finn Care is a national charity that helps people in financial need to improve their lives.
• Elizabeth Finn Care gives direct financial support to people from over 120 occupational backgrounds, and through Turn2us helps millions more people in the UK to access the money available to them in welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help.
• Turn2us is part of Elizabeth Finn Care, a charity registered in England and Wales: 207812 and Scotland: SCO40987.
• Since being founded in 1897, Elizabeth Finn Care has given away over £130m in direct financial assistance to people in need. In 2009/2010 over 3,500 British and Irish citizens received grants totalling almost £4m from Elizabeth Finn Care.
Turn2us
• 13.5 million people in the UK live below the poverty line (source - Households Below Average Income: An analysis of the income distribution 1994/95-2007/08). Yet latest annual figures show that around 16.8 billion of welfare benefits go unclaimed and there are also over 3,500 charitable funds available which distribute grants worth over £366 million a year.
• Turn2us helps people to access to the money available to them in welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help.
• The Turn2us free, confidential online service - www.turn2us.org.uk is designed to help individuals quickly and easily find welfare benefits, tax credits or charitable grants available to them - all in one place. The site has a number of tools to make the process simpler, including a benefits checker, grants search and ‘find an adviser’ tool to help locate someone to speak to. Over 3,500 charitable funds are listed on the website and people can apply online to many of the charities for help. In the last 12 months over 2 million people have used the website.
• Turn2us works in partnership with organisations across the UK, including AdviceUK, Association of Charitable Officers, Citizens Advice, Child Poverty Action Group, Home-Start UK and Money Advice Trust to develop our services and reach the many millions of people that need our help.