On Wednesday, 27th September from 6.30pm - 8.30pm, a fun and sociable charity 'Swish' event is to be held in West Pennard Village Hall.

To be attended by the Mayor of Wells, Councillor Tanys Pullin, the aim is to raise much needed funds for the Baltonsborough based charity, PROMISEworks. This event is being kindly sponsored by Barber's Cheesemakers of Ditcheat. 

PROMISEworks recruits and trains volunteer mentors to support an increasingly large number of vulnerable and disadvantaged young people across the county. For more details on the work of this great charity which received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2022 - please look at their web site: www.promiseworks.org.uk

Swishing provides a great opportunity to donate and buy 'pre-loved' women's clothing, shoes, bags, jewellery, and other accessories. We ask those coming along to bring a few items that have been hiding in their wardrobes for the past year which we can re-sell at our event. These items don't have to be expensive designer wear, but we are looking for stuff that people will want to buy (so maybe not that 5-year-old t-shirt with the hole in it!). It may be an outfit that you only wore once to a wedding, that new handbag that turned out to be too small for the mountain of stuff you carry around with you or those high heeled shoes that you bought for a party only to discover that you can't actually walk in them! All the items donated will be displayed and hopefully sold. It's then up to the new owner to decide how much they are willing to pay for the item/s they want to buy.

The more we sell of your donated clothes and accessories, and the more people are prepared to pay for these items will mean more money going to help PROMISEworks continue its vital work. Don't worry if you feel you have nothing to bring along - buying something is equally as important! If you can bring some items – please arrive early so we can get your stuff displayed and please ensure your items are clean, in good condition, coats, dresses etc are on a hanger and all items of clothing and shoes have a tag or label showing the size.

We are also delighted to welcome a very special guest to our evening - The Mayor of Wells, Councillor Tanys Pullin. Councillor Pullin will be talking about her mayoral year charity project, The Mayor's New Clothes. The project involves transforming 'pre-loved' wedding dresses – many of which were found in charity shops or donated to Councillor Pullin - into beautiful ballgowns and prom dresses. The collection will then be auctioned off at a special gala event in the Town Hall next February following a fashion show in Wells Cathedral in January. Councillor Pullin, who is a great advocate of Charity Shop clothes (and may even give us a few tips on how to find the best bargains) is hoping to raise £150,00 for her chosen charities.

Everyone is welcome to what should be a great evening with the added benefit of raising money from that item of clothing which you will never wear again but that someone else would love to have. And buyer and seller will both be giving to charity.

Entrance to the evening is £5.00 and includes a glass of prosecco as part of the entrance price. For more information, please contact Jane Hobbs on 07932 608085 or [email protected]

Happy Swishing!

*Our event will be a variation of the Swishing concept which traditionally involves a swap of items with no money changing hands. As this is a charity event, items are kindly given to us and the 'new owner' is invited to give a donation to enable us to raise funds for PROMISEworks.