Revival

REVIVAL CHARITY FASHION SHOW

Although a University wide fashion show, Revival is predominantly run by Mary's students. Mae Brennan spoke to Louisa Wagstaff (English Literature, 2nd Year), Director of Revival 2022, about the extraordinary charity event.

Please could tell us more about this year’s Revival - especially the incredible amount of money raised for charity! In 2022, Revival Charity Fashion Show supported the North-East based charity Feeding Families. Feeding Families helps those experiencing food poverty, supporting them through the provision of food, education and other wellbeing resources. This year, Revival aimed to widen the reach of the show, expanding beyond the Mary ’ s community. Whilst predominantly Mary ’ s, Revival’ s executive members included individuals from various colleges yet all working towards the common goal of raising as much money as possible. We ran several fundraisers that were central to showcasing Revival to the wider University community, including a charity football match organised in collaboration with Durham University Men ’ s Football Team. The event was hugely successful, receiving a much larger turn-out than expected!

How did you come up with the theme of Equality & Opportunity? Did you have any specific inspiration? I wanted the theme of Revival to relate both to Feeding Families as well as the values Revival seeks to uphold. The theme of 'Equality and Opportunity' epitomises what Feeding Families can provide as all services are openly available to all, resonant with Revival’ s message that regardless of race, sex, gender identity, sexuality, religion, body type, disabilities, and class, the show is open to every student, Mary ’ s and beyond.

Please could you tell us more about the charity Feeding Families. Feeding Families provides necessities to those less fortunate through various campaigns. Each month, 1,000 food boxes are packed and in the past year, 161,000 meals have been donated. They run a ‘Tin on a Wall’ initiative several times throughout the year, and two of these campaigns coincided with the organisation of Revival. The ‘Tin on a Wall’ campaign is a food drive across the North-East which allows members of the public to sign up to have a collection box, with the aim of collecting as many food supplies as possible from the surrounding area. We participated in the Christmas Hamper provision, the busiest time of the ‘Tin on a Wall’ campaign, where we collected specifically Christmasthemed items so everyone was able to celebrate Christmas regardless of personal circumstances. We ran a Karaoke Night at Mary ’ s to collect supplies for the Christmas Hamper appeal, and the CEO of Feeding Families, Juliet Sanders, explained this year was the largest appeal yet, with over 9,000 hampers delivered.

Why did you choose to support Feeding Families? As a North-East based charity, Feeding Families allowed us to make a tangible change to our community. The North-East was an area disproportionally affected by the pandemic, having been placed in continuous lockdowns for a longer period of time compared to other areas of England. In the atmosphere of this consequential cost-ofliving crisis, it is more important than ever to ensure charities like Feeding Families have as much support as possible as their services remain vital during these trying times.

Revival this year, raised over £16,000!

What makes Revival such a unique event, in terms of the Revival community as well as the show itself? Revival is a collaborative community which seeks to celebrate individuality. I wanted to foster this empowering and inspiring environment for both the executive committee and models, ensuring these aspects of the show worked in unison with one another. Revival is such a special way to raise money for charity, simultaneously allowing a celebration of the amazing work of Feeding Families as well as the impressive work of the designers whose clothes we showcase. After months of effort, organisation and rehearsing across 20 executive members and 30 models, Revival is an immensely rewarding event. You can see the impact on the models throughout the process as they grow in confidence with each rehearsal and it’ s amazing to witness the awe audience members have for the models as well as an appreciation for the organisation behind the event. I’ ve had so many people tell me after watching Revival that they are keen to get involved in next year ’ s event!