Look To The Stars News: Erin O'Connor

Michelle Williams To Headline Ndoro Children's Charities Event

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Fashion designers and entertainers are joining forces to raise much needed funds for children in Zimbabwe, at the inaugural Ndoro Children’s Charities fund-raising gala evening at The Dorchester, London on 17th September, 2009.

“The situation in Zimbabwe is critical. One in four children are orphans due to the Aids crisis, and with the economic crisis and political unrest, it is tragic state of affairs. We are a small charity focused on making a better life for children all over the world,” says Ronald Ndoro, Operations Manager and son of the founder Roseline Ndoro.

The gala night combines music and fashion and highlights including music from Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, Nate Evans’ The Temptations, Mutya Buena and The London Community Gospel Choir. They will also be joined by Headphones & Heels, girl-team DJs.

20 British and leading designers also join together for a catwalk show and high-profile auction. Fashion leaders such as Nicole Farhi, Maria Grachvogel and Mark Jacobs are participating as well as rising stars from the British fashion industry; Charlotte Olympia, Olivia Rubin, Mac-Millan and Bordelle.

The night will be hosted by a raft of talent to include Michelle Williams, Konnie Huq, Nick Ede, Leah Charles and Bobak Kianoush, with a guestlist that at this stage includes former Spice Girls Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Geri Halliwell, as well as Erin O’Connor and many others.

Ndoro Children’s Charities was formed to help children in deprived developing countries with an initial focus on Zimbabwe. The aim of the night is to raise £100,000 which will go towards building a new orphanage home, school and clinic in Zimbabwe, 80 miles from Harare.

The charity has already raised enough money to open two homes in Harare for 16 street children or orphans to live and attend local schools. The properties are currently being re-furbished and are due to open this August.

Ndoro Children’s Charities was set up by Roseline Ndoro, who visited her home country Zimbabwe in 2005 after having been away for 10 years. She was shocked by what she saw and became quickly aware of the plight of the people, especially children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, TB and cancer. Roseline then became ill with Breast Cancer and then unexpectedly her long-term partner died. Following discussions with her family here in the UK, she decided to setup the charity which was officially launched in 2008. She has recently been joined her by son, Ronald Ndoro, who gave up his training as a lawyer to head up the charity.

More info can be found here.

Elton John Dedicates Song To Michael Jackson At Charity Bash

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Elton John held his 11th annual White Tie & Tiara Ball to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation on Thursday, June 25.

Held at his Windsor mansion, “Woodside”, the party featured entertainment by Justin Timberlake and attracted guests such as Sam Taylor Wood, Damien Hirst, Elizabeth Hurley, Kate Beckinsale, Shirley Bassey, Lily Allen, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Natalie Imbruglia, David Walliams, Geri Halliwell, Lily Cole and Erin O’Connor.

The annual ball has raised over £27 million since its inception, with last week’s event raising £4 million.

Sir Elton reportedly was told about the death of Michael Jackson during the evening, and dedicated a version of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me to the singer.

Stars Come Out For Prince's Trust Spring Ball

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

The annual Prince’s Trust Spring Ball was held in the UK last night, March 5, and attracted a plethora of stars who wanted to show their support for the charity.

Held at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, the event raised more than £90,000 for the Prince’s Trust, a charity set up by Prince Charles in 1976 to offer support to disadvantaged youth through training, mentoring and financial assistance.

The evening featured performances by singer Will Young and was attended by stars such as Jerry Hall, Erin O’Connor and Tara Palmer Tomkinson. The crowd was entertained by Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone from Strictly Come Dancing – who danced their amazing Argentine Tango – and enjoyed delicious cocktails and a three-course gourmet meal in the surroundings of magnificent Swarovski crystals.

Also at the event were British stars and Prince’s Trust ambassadors Vernon Kay and Tess Daly.

“It gives young people another chance, those who have been dealt a dodgy hand of cards from being abused as a child, drug addiction, for example, the Prince’s Trust makes them feel that they’re not an anomaly,” said Kay. “Nights like this are how the trust gets its money. These things don’t come cheap, especially in this day and age. Apparently there’s a credit crunch but people are still giving.”

Peaches Geldof Gets Second-Hand Makeover

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Celebrity Peaches Geldof – known for her sense of style and love of labels – has been given a makeover with a difference from a group of elderly women who work in second-hand clothing stores.

With the help of fashion expert Mary Portas – who is making a documentary on second-hand stores for BBC2 – the group of fashion-conscious grannies decked the young socialite (and daughter of Bob Geldof) in a vintage, fifties-style red dress at their stall backstage at London Fashion Week. Portas believes that charity shops will be relied on more during the recession, and she has spent time filming in shops for Save the Children, Barnardo’s and many other charities for her new series.

“I brought my style volunteers up to London Fashion Week to give a message to the fashion world that charity shopping is not just great for the environment and for a good cause,” she said. “These are places where you can get unique, fashionable outfits that are on trend and look great.”

The group of charitable pensioners also gave second-hand makeovers to supermodel Erin O’Connor, actress Natalie Press and DJ Jodie Harsh.

Fashion For Relief A Huge Success

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Supermodel Naomi Campbell took to the runway on Wednesday for her 2008 Fashion For Relief charity catwalk show benefiting the White Ribbon Alliance.

Celebrity models who graced the catwalk included Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, model Erin O’Connor, artist Tracey Emin, rock daughters Kimberley Stewart and Lizzie Jagger, the Sugababes, Cilla Black, and Olympic gold medalists Rebecca Adlington and Sarah Ayton.

The show – which took place at London’s Natural History Museum – was opened by the wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarah, and was watched by a star-studded audience that included Mischa Barton.

“This is what the fashion world is doing to give back,” said Campbell. “I won’t ask people to do anything unless I think it’s really important. I only ask when I think it’s something they will be passionate about. All these people here tonight feel the same way.”

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood is an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns.

“I do lot of work with Save the Children, and today I was doing press with them and they told me this charity is affiliated with theirs,” said Barton. “I learned up on it, and Naomi is doing a good thing with it. She has always been very friendly and caring to me. She’s really sweet.”

Handbag.com Launches Handbag Amnesty

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0000

www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK have announced a new partnership with the launch of the first ever Handbag Amnesty.

Taking place throughout the month of September – www.handbag.com’s dedicated handbag month – and climaxing in October, the Handbag Amnesty will give women across the country the opportunity to bid for the designer handbag of their favourite celebrity including, just to name a few, Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Dame Shirley Bassey, to raise money to help beat cancer.

www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK are asking celebrities to make space in their wardrobes by donating one of their designer handbags to the Amnesty. The bags will then be auctioned on eBay from Friday 3rd – Sunday 14th October to tie in with Breast Cancer Awareness month. Open to everyone, all proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK, the largest single funder of research into breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in the UK.

Some of the other celebrities who have donated handbags are America Ferrera, Annie Lennox, Ashlee Simpson, Geri Halliwell, Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scarlett Johansson.

The Handbag Amnesty, however, is not just about celebrities. www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK are also asking members of the public to donate a handbag that is still in good condition to their local Cancer Research UK shop. Good handbags always sell like hot cakes in Cancer Research UK’s nationwide chain of charity shops.

Claire Higgins, Head of Marketing at www.handbag.com, says: “As the leading lifestyle website for women in the UK, we are in the unique position of being able to reach more than 1.5 million women across the country. 44,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK so we are very proud to be working with Cancer Research UK to help make a difference – not only by raising a lot of money to fund research into preventing breast cancer, but also by helping to raise much needed awareness of the illness.”

Paul Farthing, Director of High Value Relationships at Cancer Research UK, says: “We’re delighted to be working with www.handbag.com to launch Handbag Amnesty. The auction of celebrity handbags will be an exciting way to raise funds for our vital research into breast cancer. We also hope that by encouraging supporters to donate their own favourite handbag, and other unwanted quality items to our shops, we will be able to raise even more to help beat cancer.”

For more information and a full list of celebrities taking part, please visit www.handbag.com/amnesty

Models Support Human Rights Cotton Campaign

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:15:44 -0000

Written by Regina Walton

Over 20 top models have volunteered to be photographed in cotton shirts made by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). Some of the models, photographed in EJF’s ‘Pick Your Cotton Carefully’ campaign t-shirts, include Irina Lazareanu, Coco Rocha, Catherine McNeil, Caroline Trentini, Siri Tollerød, and Behati Prinsloo. The most recent 19 models were photographed by Eric Guillerman.

The organic cotton t-shirts were designed by Luella, Christian Lacroix, Betty Jackson and Katharine Hamnett. All shirts are designed around the theme of “childhood, lost innocence and hope” and represent more than one million children worldwide who are forced to work in the cotton industry. The shirts are only $60 and are shipped worldwide for $10. All profits from the sale of the t-shirt are used to support EJF’s work.

The EJF’s goal is to clean up the cotton industry because “over two-thirds of the world’s cotton is grown in developing countries and the former Soviet Union. Valued at over $30 billion every year, global cotton production should be improving lives. But this ‘white gold’ too often brings misery. Although some progress is being made, the unsustainable, inequitable and abusive conditions under which much of the world’s cotton is produced, continues.” Other supporters of the ‘Pick Your Cotton Carefully’ campaign include Lily Cole, Erin O’Connor, KT Tunstall, and Peaches Geldof.

To buy a shirt, visit the EJF Shop, and to become a regular giver to the EJF, be sure to check out the EJF website.

Look To The Stars News: Erin O'Connor

Michelle Williams To Headline Ndoro Children's Charities Event

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