WORCESTER mayor Andy Roberts was getting in touch with his feminine side during a packed weekend of events.
Councillor Roberts, the city’s first citizen, swapped the mayoral chain for an old bra to raise awareness of the Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign.
Women surrendered their old bras for recycling at the Guildhall on Saturday for a fund-raising drive led by Worcester Vigornia Rotary Club member Karen Tomalin, who runs a Bromsgrove lingerie store.
The plan is to raise £150,000 towards a new £2.5 million breast unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, with collections continuing all year.
Fathers, boyfriends, sons and partners are not being left out and can also sponsor a bra.
To find your collection point or for more information, visit 2ndskinlingerie.com More than 30 Rotarians were collecting glasses for charity Vision Aid Overseas which sends them on to people in the third world.
Sue Fitzjohn, club president, said: “The glasses are refurbished in UK jails by prisoners and then sent out to Africa and India.
“Rotarians from other clubs, who are opticians, often go out with the glasses to carry out eye clinics in the most deprived areas.”
Elsewhere in Worcester, the national Big Draw event was being marked at the city museum and art gallery in Foregate Street.
Artists and university masters graduates Chloe Murdoch and Dan Roach had their hands full all day with youngsters – and parents – getting messy for art’s sake. Mr Roach said: “There’s a huge interest in arts in the city which needs to be developed and this event is part of that.”
At Sixways, 10 finalists battled it out at Performance on the Pitch in aid of St Richard’s Hospice.
The eventual winner was 16-year-old singer Hayden Godbald, of Evesham, who will now perform at Worcester Warriors’ last premiership game of the season against Gloucester on Saturday, May 8.
Joanna Street, community fund-raiser, said: “A lot of the finalists were pulling on the heart strings. They did fantastically well.”
She thanked everybody for supporting the hospice, which cares and supports people and their families who are coping with life-limiting illnesses.
Yesterday, the city’s Muslim community welcomed friends and dignitaries to formally celebrate the end of the religious festival of Eid.
An Eid Milan party was held at Unity House in Stanley Road by the Worcester Muslim Welfare Association.
Malik Fayaz, association chairman, said: “What this event is about is getting the community together, marking Eid and also Pakistan Independence Day.
“We’ve invited people from different faiths to join in and celebrate with us.”
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