York Inspirational Kids Fashion Show
Grand Opera House York
Saturday 30 March 2019 at 2.30pm
A fun afternoon with disabled children & young people and their families who will take you on a journey of creativity, colour and inclusion. Be ready to smile. Fundraising for Stimul8 – to build a leisure and training facility for disabled children and young people in York.
Having a disabled child of her own, Ruth Thompson realises the difficulties faced by many families when trying to access mainstream activities. Her 14 year old daughter was born with a virus called Cytomegalovirus (CMV), which caused to her to have a stroke, attacked her optic nerve causing her to be born blind, though she now has a little bit of vision, severe epilepsy and learning difficulties. As Georgina has grown up Ruth became aware of more and more gaps in provision for play and development. Despite having the vision for Stimul8 7 years ago, with the help of her business partner Jo Rodwell the pair have resurrected the plans and begun fundraising to build a state of the art facility providing nursery care for very complex needs children, fully adapted play centre and NVQ/ training hub plus some paid work for disabled children and young people.
Ruth says ‘As Georgina has grown I’ve become more and more aware of the gaps in provision and just knew I needed to do something about it. With Jo’s help we know this is going to make a difference to so many families.’
Ruth also runs York Inspirational Kids, a support group for families who have a disabled child. They decided to get involved with York Fashion Week to show fashion designers, retailers and others involved within the fashion industry that disabled children also want to be fashionable but need a few adaptations to be made to help them access everyday clothing. Items such as adjustable clothing, adapted fastenings such as magnets or Velcro, fashionable shoes with Velcro fastenings in adult sizes and seamless clothing to accommodate sensory issues.
Jo says ‘at the end of the day they’re just children who want to have fun and dress like their peers. If they need wider legs to help go over splints, higher waists or longer tee shirts to enable wheelchair users not to get cold then it really shouldn’t be too much to ask. Just getting a wheelchair into some of the stores can be impossible. This fashion show will highlight these children’s fashion needs and will showcase what some retailers are doing to accommodate them. We are so grateful that the Grand Opera House also thought this was a priority too and is enabling us to put on this show. ‘
The aim of the show is to raise awareness, encourage inclusivity as well as raising funds to build Stimul8.
Tickets on sale from Friday 1 February at 10am
Ticket Price: Adults £5, Children £2
Box office: 0844 871 3024
Online: www.atgticketrs.com/york