A fashion show and musical entertainment are just two of the ingredients for a fund raising evening in Fakenham on May 24.

Judith Inward, Pauline Thomas and June Berry are the three energetic and enthusiastic organisers for the event being held at Fakenham Rugby Club on Thursday May 24 in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

There will also be 17 stands to browse around which will have a wide range of goods and therapies.

The guest speaker will be the highly-respected consultant Stuart Scott. who gives a great deal of his own time to support charitable fund raising.

The tickets are £10 and these are available from Judith Inward by calling 01328 855269.

Australian Fashion Week (AFW) organiser Simon Lock has denied reports that too many unknown labels on the schedule are compromising the integrity of the event.

The industry-only event, which runs over five days, in theory presents the best in Australian fashion.

But many of the big names have opted not to show this year, including Akira Isogawa, Charlie Brown and Wayne Cooper.

Lock says it would be impossible to get all of the household names on the schedule each year.

"What we're trying to do with the schedule is have a balance. We need some of the big guns, we need that, sort of, middle ground and we need those new emerging designers," he said.

He says having a diverse schedule is what makes the event so successful each year.

"We saw some tremendous collections yesterday. Some big guns - Lisa Ho and Alex Perry - that were really received well. And three new, emerging designers - Anna Thomas, Melaine Cutfield and also Nevenka - who really in their debut shows showed some promise ... It's got to have new blood as well as the old guard," he said.

Gill Milligan, designer for Milk and Honey, agrees.

She says concerns about too many new labels showing at AFW are unfounded.

"We're still seen as relative newcomers, but this is actually our third fashion week," she said.

"I think it's really good there's a new wave of designers coming through because there's a whole new generation now buying Australian fashion and they're just not after the same thing they were after five years ago."

As camera bulbs flashed and techno music thumped, Northwestern students sauntered down the catwalk at Saturday's Voice for Asia Fashion Show.

About 80 people attended the event, raising about $500, organizers said.

"The clothing looked great, I was really impressed with the Chicago designers and I think the models looked great," said Medill freshman Chris Adamson.

The show was one of several fundraising events leading up to Voice for Asia's annual concert this Sunday. All the money raised on Saturday night and at Voice for Asia's other events will go to UNICEF and China Care Foundation to support AIDS orphans in China.

The show featured collections by Francesca's Collections, 1706 Maple Ave., and Chicago Fashion Week designer Nasaani. NU's Mirch Masala dance group and ReFRESH Dance Crew performed during breaks between fashion collections.

Weinberg freshman Francesca Chia, one of the event's organizers, said bringing together the elements of the show, including lighting and sound, was a challenge. She said the search for clothing designs required "e-mailing 50 people" and handing out pamphlets to local vendors.

"To secure designers was the hardest thing," Chia said. "Francesca's was really nice and Nasaani replied instantly. We had to improvise and add a cultural (collection)."

A third collection included international clothing contributed from multicultural organizations on campus. Models posed in designs from Thailand, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea and India while Daft Punk's "Around the World" played in the background.

The shows' emcees, McCormick senior Albert Leung and McCormick junior David Chen, did not let a power outage in the middle of the show put a damper on the event. Leung and Chen made jokes and entertained the crowd while organizers rushed to restore power.

Leung, who hosted the Chinese New Year event "Celebrasia" earlier this year, said emceeing Saturday's show in Parkes Hall was different.

"It was smaller audience and a little more cozy," Leung said. "I knew a lot of people here, and it was a really fun and encouraging environment."

The fashion show included a presentation from activist and Swarthmore College senior Bella Liu. Liu described her experience visiting China and developing her "China Memory Book Project" to help AIDS orphans retain memories of their parents. She urged the attendees to help AIDS communities in China deal with the poverty and stigma that often follow an AIDS epidemic through activism and awareness.

Communication freshman Brittany Park walked the runway for her first time at the event. Park is a member of NU's Ladycats varsity dance team, and said walking down the runway was like one of her dance performances.

"Being a dancer, it was kind of like doing a dance, but all you're doing is walking and posing," she said.

Park said the other models were "beautiful or handsome" and that the show's backstage area was "chaotic."

"You came up and did your thing, and you had just 10 seconds to change," she said. "They had (the clothes) really organized so it was good."

Voice for Asia is an joint venture of several Asian student organizations on campus: the Asian Pacific American Coalition, China Care, Cilipadi, Japan Club, Kaibigan, Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, the Korean American Students Association, Niteskool, Singaporeans and Friends and the Taiwanese American Students Club.

Reach Matt Spector at m-spector@northwestern.edu.

GENEROUS fashionistas took to the catwalk and raised more than £4,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support at a spring and summer fashion show.
The Wakefield and Pontefract fundraising committee organised the event, which was almost two years in the planning.

More than 250 people attended the event, held at Sandal BMW showroom last month, which showcased fashions provided by Lynette Carlton of Diva, Ackworth.

A cheque for £4,077 was handed by chairman of the committee, Jeff Goldthorpe, to Maria Amos, Macmillan fundraiser for Wakefield at a presentation ceremony held at Sandal BMW on Wednesday. In the past 12 years the committee has raised more than £1million for the cancer charity.

Margaret Scott, one of the organisers, said: “We were thrilled to be able to raise so much money.

“We had hoped to raise £3,000 and the committee were staggered to learn the final amount had been so much more.

“I have been involved in raising funds for the charity for more than 12 years and yet it never ceases to amaze me the willingness with which people donate to charity or offer their support. More than 30 organisers, individuals and companies supported the show without whom the event would not have been possible.”

An upcoming evening of fashion, food and fun will help support much-needed social day programs for local seniors.

"I can't even begin to express just how important this fundraiser is to the program," said Dartmouth Friends of the Elderly vice president Maria Lawton.

The Friends' fourth annual Community Fashion Show Fundraiser will take place Thursday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at the Hawthorn Country Club, with all proceeds benefitting the Dartmouth Social Day Care Program.

The program is an outlet for many local seniors providing them with valuable social interaction and nutritious meals. It also provides much-needed respite for caregivers.

"Depression is a huge issue for seniors who are sitting home alone," Ms. Lawton said. "This program is so important because it gets them out of the house and keeps them active and involved."

It costs the Council on Aging approximately $25 per day to serve each program participant. "Seniors receive services, regardless of their ability to pay," said Ms. Lawton, noting that the fashion show is the largest annual fundraiser for the program.

"We also work with other organizations, like Coastline Elderly Services, to help cover program costs."

Volunteer models for the evening include local physicians Judith Miesner and Robert Nixon, Charlie Sisson and Terri Larson of Coastline Elderly Services and Dartmouth Town Administrator Michael Gagne.

Clothing for the models is sponsored by JCPenney and Ashworth's Womens Apparel.

Tickets are $30 and must be purchased in advance at the Dartmouth Senior Center, 628 Dartmouth St., Community Nurse and Hospice Care, 62 Center St., Fairhaven, or call (508) 999-4717 for more information or to make a contribution.

Some of the young men at St. Stanislaus traded their school books for serving trays and a quick glance at some gorgeous female models in the Casablanca Couture Fashion Show.

"It kind of harkens back to a time when travel and shopping and nightclubs were really sophisticated, so all the fashion and the accessories tried to reflect that," says Kerrie Loya.

Kerrie Loya owns Jet Set Boutique in Bay St. Louis. She headed up the fundraiser and rounded up a diverse group of models for the head turning show.

"We have a couple of girls from OLA, and we have some moms that are around their children at Holy Trinity, OLA or St. Stanislaus. Then we have our very adventurous group of Cabana boys, and those would be the boys from St. Stanislaus," Loya says.

One show stealer was Jay Ladner, the Boys' Basketball Coach at St. Stanislaus.

"I don't know how much of a future I have in coaching, but I really don't plan on having one in modeling," he says.

But, he was still a good sport about it.

We asked him, "Now, as a coach, I'm sure you have some strenuous moments, how does coaching compare to being up here on the tee and strutting your stuff?"

He says, "I'd rather coach. It's a lot less pressure."

Mychael Stewart can thank a large hole in the back of his left shoe for helping him qualify for his first NCAA Indoor Championships.

When he's walking around Arkansas' campus, Stewart wears a black protective boot to cover his injured left heel. He has the boot on at all times, except when he's at home -- and of course, when he's competing in the long jump.

That's when the Bentonville High graduate goes with the customized shoe with a hole so large in the back that his foot is visible.

"The outside of the shoe was rubbing the (sore) spot, and it would just irritate that spot and it would hurt every time I took a step on it," Stewart said. "So when there is nothing there, there is nothing to rub against it. I can run."

Stewart injured the outside of his left heel late last month when he landed awkwardly on the hard track at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky. He tried running with different types of padding in his shoe, but none worked.

Out of desperation, Arkansas' trainers decided to cut a rather large chunk out of the back of Stewart's long jump shoe. As odd as it might seem, the junior has had more success with part of his shoe missing.

The Bentonville native qualified for this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships when he recorded a personal-best distance of 25 feet, 2.75 inches on his sixth and final jump in last week's Arkansas Last Chance meet.

"That kid this year has really made a believer out of me," Arkansas track and field coach John McDonnell said of Stewart, a former walk-on. "He is a tough, tough athlete. He's the type of kid that can help you win a national championship because the pain threshold is very high for that kid."

Stewart and Arkansas teammate Alain Bailey will compete in the long jump competition at 6 p.m. tonight in the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Stewart hopes to win the event, and in the process, help Arkansas defend its 2006 NCAA indoor title by capturing the school's 43rd national championship. Nothing would please McDonnell more.

This has been a trying indoor season for the No. 12 Razorbacks, who have had to deal with a rash of viral infections and other illnesses.

"I think that we definitely feel like we're going to surprise a lot of people," said Stewart, who is the only member of the Razorbacks' track and field team from Northwest Arkansas.

Stewart was named the SEC field athlete of the week on Feb. 6 after finishing first in the long jump at the New Balance Collegiate Invite with a leap of 25-1.25.

He said his heel feels much better than it did several weeks ago, and it's improved even since last week. He said he doesn't feel pain when he walks.

Along with Stewart, five other Arkansas athletes will compete in the two-day indoor championships.

But being that he grew up only a short drive away in Bentonville, Stewart expects to have a rather large cheering section of family and friends in attendance.

"I hope I can get the entire city (to come out)," Stewart said, laughing.

But his "special" left shoe can only do so much.