Amelia’s Glad Rags for Hope to mark birthday of little ‘fashion queen’ taken too soon

Amelia sadly passed away last year in a road traffic collision, which also claimed the lives of her big brother Tomás and father John.

The much-loved little girl’s eighth birthday is on October 8th and on that evening ‘Amelia’s Glad Rags for HOPE’ will be showcased in the Mullan HOPE Centre, Moville, which was set up recently by her mother, Geraldine.

The HOPE stands for Hub Of Positive Energy and is a space for the entire community.

Geraldine told the Journal how she and her friend were talking about how they could mark Amelia’s birthday when the idea for a fashion event came up.

“Amelia loved fashion and style. She would say: ‘I’m a fashion queen.’ I remember, one time, John - who had a better wardrobe than me - bought her a dress. I told Amelia that she was getting that tall it would soon be too short for her. I went off to work and when I came back, Tomás was smiling and told me I needed to see what Amelia had done. When I went in, she had cut the dress and made it into a top. When I asked her why, she told me that I said it was going to be too short for her soon and sure she was a little fashion queen. She hid the bit she had cut and the scissors in behind the sofa in case I was cross! But, of course , I wasn’t.”

Amelia and Tomás were also very much into recycling, so Geraldine is asking people to find a lovely piece, such as a dress or coat, that they’re willing to part with and donate it to the extravaganza. The piece will then go to a new home on October 8.

A number of boutiques have already got involved, including McElhinneys in Ballybofey, Blush Boutique, Deirdre’s of the Diamond and Ollie and Mel’s and there will be a celebrity MC and fashion experts giving their advice on the night, as well as a huge raffle. There will also be music by the Inishowen Harp Ensemble.

It is intended to set up pick up points for the donated clothing pieces in the coming weeks and tickets for this exclusive, ticketed event are going on sale next week. If any business would like to donate to the raffle, it would be very much appreciated.

The event will be held in the tunnels at the centre, which was originally the family’s garden centre, with John’s tunnel being the catwalk, something Geraldine said Amelia would have been delighted to be on.

“She definitely would have been up there and Tomás would have been watching her, smiling and delighted.”

Geraldine told how so many people have been ‘so supportive’ already and said the extravaganza will be her ‘birthday present to Amelia.’ “And we all could all do with a bit of hope.”

See Mullan HOPE Centre on Facebook for more information.