Ellesmere College Ladies' Lunch Huge Success

The second end of Summer Term Ellesmere College Parents' Society Ladies Lunch was held last week in a marquee situated on the School's Terraces. Old Ellesmerian and celebrity hairdresser,  Andrew Collinge, gave an enormously entertaining after-lunch speech.

After much planning and hard work by the Ellesmere College Parents' Society Chairperson, Sue Dewhirst, and the Committee, 200 ladies enjoyed a glass of bubbly before consuming a delicious two-course meal. Numerous local business women also had the opportunity to share their wares with the guests, including Tuesday Chocolates from Market Drayton, Mystique, the ladies underwear and beach-wear shop in Shrewsbury, as well as the clothes shop, Quelque Chose, who also organised a fashion parade of summer outfits during lunch. 

Following lunch, Andrew Collinge gave an interesting and often amusing speech about his days at Ellesmere College and his own career. Many amusing stories were told by Andrew Collinge as he shared stories from his successful career as a hairdresser to many famous people as well as his experiences of presenting on television for a number of years, facilitating the original make-over opportunities, along side his wife, Liz Collinge,a make-up artist, for women around the UK.   

A raffle, with prizes generously donated by the stall holders, raised �1,000 for Self Unlimited, a charity that have Andrew Collinge as a patron. Following the lunch, guests had the opportunity to look around the stalls whilst socialising amongst themselves and teachers and other staff members who joined the group for tea.       

Sue Dewhirst commented, 'the support given to this year's Ladies' Lunch, was tremendous and following the success of the afternoon, I am confident that next year's Ladies Lunch will be even over-subscribed. The tale of Andrew Collinge's hairdressing career was a highlight and I was delighted that such a significant amount of money was raised for his chosen charity. Thanks must go to my fellow committee members, the local businesses who supported the event and all the ladies from around the county and beyond who spent the afternoon lunching at Ellesmere College. All contributed to such a memorable event.'

The High Sheriff of Shropshire, Anne Turner, was one of the guests who, after the lunch, was accompanied  by the Headmaster, Brendan Wignall and his wife Anne, to present Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh awards to a group of Year 11 and 12 pupils.    

6th July 2009  Back to News