Our Fashion Editor finds out what the Glasgow University Charity Fashion Show (GUFCS) is all about.
Do you want to just give us an introduction into who you are and what your role is in terms of organising?
Sarah: I’m Sarah, The President of GUCFS for this year, so I just oversee the society and all of the different departments.
Bethany: I’m Bethany, the charity director and I’m head of fundraising- both fundraising events, as well as individual fundraising within the society and supporting members to do that.
Sophie: I’m Sophie, the director of production and so I am in charge of organising the show and working with various creators, DJs etc.
What can we expect to see at the show? (e.g. designers, performances, speakers etc.)
Sarah: For anyone who hasn’t attended Glasgow University Charity Fashion Show before, it is a large-scale event – it’s the largest student fundraising event in Glasgow. This year it’s being held over two nights, while a fashion show, it’s also a DJ and live music event. If anyone’s been before they can expect a similar setup to shows held in the past, so the venue is decorated in line with our theme and a full catwalk show with live DJs and a range of different designers and following on from that there’s an after party that runs until 2am.
Sophie: This year we’ve actually got the most designers we have ever had; which is 22. They’re mainly new designers and young brands so we’re really excited to showcase some of their designs. They’re all ethically produced and almost all handmade, and a lot of them are quite bold and daring which goes really well with the theme for this year which is Climax. This year’s theme reflects a response to the current disruptive climate and so we hope the show will be more politically relevant than ever. The show also has a real community aspect to it and obviously because we are a student charity run society this year we really focused on pulling the student population together. So you can expect to see a couple of student acts, in addition to an exciting catwalk DJ and a lot of photographers and general creatives. We don’t want to give too much away, so I suppose you’ll have to come to the show to find out!
Also, a big part of the show is the charity focus. This year we are really keen to ensure that, despite all the excitement of the event, the focus still remains on the charity; the work they are doing and the support we can hopefully provide to them through the funds that we raise from the event.
If you’re considering buying a ticket this is something we really want you to bear in mind – that it’s not just an event but an opportunity for you to contribute to the work of Refuweegee through your ticket payment.
When is the show and how can we get tickets?
Sarah: It is being held over two nights, on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th of February. Our VIP ballot was live over the last couple of weeks, but we do still have a limited number of VIP tables available for our Friday show, which you can purchase by emailing [email protected]
To give you an overview of the ticket options:
Standard tickets include entry to the actual fashion and to the afterparty (at a later date afterparty only tickets will be released).
VIP tickets include the same as the standard tickets as well as the VIP pre party. This includes entry to the venue around an hour and a half before everyone else, as well as entertainment and a minimum of four drinks which are redeemable at various popup bars around the pre party, so that’s worth over £20 in drinks alone. You also get access to an exclusive show viewing area and cloakroom included.
Standard tickets are available to buy this week; provisional release is set for Thursday 27th January but this is subject to change so please follow the fb event for exact release times; https://www.facebook.com/events/661558908597088 . There will be three standard ticket releases; the first is priced at £25, the second £27 and the third £29 plus a booking fee. When the tickets go on sale the link will be posted directly on our social media as well as the official facebook event but be quick because tickets are likely to sell fast.
Where will the fashion show be held and why is the location important to the show?
Sarah: I’ll let Sophie say a bit more about this, but it’s being hosted in Platform which is in the underground arches of Glasgow Central Station. This is a brand new venue for us, it was previously hosted in SWG3 for a number of years, but we are really excited about having a new venue. We think that by changing up the location brings a new element to the show and a lot of our committee members have visited and love it. It also fits in with our theme as well.
Sophie: The theme of climax is about the continual loop of personal growth and so we thought it would be apt to reflect that in a new location as well. The arches are really good, they provide a perfect industrial background and so it’s a lot harsher and more vibrant than other years. It’s also a really accessible venue for guests which was really important for us. We also like the fact that it’s so central and we’re hoping that it will connect the show with the general public and reflect the community core of the society.
The GUCFS has been fundraising for Refuweegee. Who are Refuweegee?
Bethany: Refuweegee are a Glasgow-based charity who support displaced people arriving in Scotland, mainly through the provision of welcome and emergency support packs. Pre-Covid they were also going into schools and educating people on refugee experiences and also doing groups like mother and baby groups; bringing back that sense of community that many people have lost during their travels. But, the packs are their main source of time at the moment. These packs contain a mixture of essential items and goods including something Scottish and a letter from a local welcoming them to their new home.
When refugees arrive in the UK they are either with a very rare and restrictive scheme or have travelled to the UK off their own back. Support they are given is extremely minimal and they are expected to live off of £5 a day, or less if they live in a hotel. So this is extremely limited – most people wouldn’t be able to live off this and Refuweegee likes to make the point of ‘can you really travel around Glasgow on less than £5 a day?’.
Last year Refuweegee received over 20,000 donations from people across Scotland and both Refuweegee and GUCFS think this is something to be celebrated and show how welcoming the Scottish community can be. Their catchphrase is ‘we’re all fae somewhere’ and we think it captures their community-centred work perfectly. No matter where you’re from, Refuweegee wants to make sure Glasgow can be called home.
What did the fundraising process involve?
Bethany: Fundraising is at the centre of society and whoever joins the society is committing to doing a fundraiser which they are going to organise, plan and host themselves and part of my job is to help support them and help organise and find resources and share their posts, but really it’s something they take onboard themselves. This year we’ve had some amazing fundraisers; from a Pitbull-themed subcrawl and bungee jumps, while Nathan, who is on the committee, is doing half a marathon a day for a week. I know I couldn’t do that! It really is the individual fundraisers that make the biggest impact on our charitable donation and the amount of hard work that goes into them is so inspiring.
Other fundraising that we do is quite typical of what charitable societies at Glasgow do, such as working with the Glasgow University Union, doing bucketing there and hosting quizzes and going to QMU winter fairs and doing bake sales outside the library. But we do do a lot of events that I think are unique to the GUCFS fundraising calendar. Such as a preloved popup, and Jailbreak, which is a challenge to get as far away from Glasgow without spending any money. In the past people have gone as far as Cyprus, but it was a little different this year.
We also encourage our society members to sign up for volunteering shifts with Refuweegee. Anyone can do this, even if not part of GUCFS, you can just go to their website and sign up.
You can follows the GUCFS social media channels here: Facebook & Instagram
