Thursday 20 March 2014

Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014


 
 

I’ll be honest, I don’t usually have any problems when it comes to writing. 

I find something I want to write about, I sit at the computer, I write.  Simple.  In fact, sometimes I have to stop myself wittering on….

So writing this wee blog about Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014 last Sunday 16th March shouldn’t be any different, right?  It should be straightforward. The plan was to write a follow-up to the piece I wrote a few weeks ago about my visit to Maggie’s Centre; so moved was I after the visit, I knew I had to go to the actual event and complete the story.  It would be easy.

Wrong. 

Nothing could prepare me for the emotional rollercoaster that was last Sunday night.  And writing about it is even harder.

I could tell you about how the atmosphere on the night was buzzing; how backstage I met the judges, the makeup artists, the organisers, the hairdressers, the designers, the helpers, the photographers; how I oohed and ahhed at the amazing clothes designed by the very talented local designers; how small and horribly ‘normal’ I felt when surrounded by a plethora of beautiful models with ridiculously long legs, all hoping to be crowned Dundee’s Face of Freedom 2014.
 
Backstage - the MUAs work their magic
 

Yes, there’s so much I could write about the fun and the excitement.  But to be honest, all of that pales into insignificance. The ‘search for a model’ competition isn’t the real reason nearly 400 people turned up at the Gardyne Theatre on a windy Sunday night in March.  Sorry, but it’s not.

Certainly, for me, the real reasons came bounding onto the stage, smiling, waving, walking tall and walking proud.
 
Maggie’s Models.  Ten very brave men and women who, at some point, have gone, or are still going through treatment for cancer.

Some of 'Maggie's Models'
(Photograph by Frameworks)
 
When they came onto the stage, the audience went wild.  I found myself grinning like a Cheshire cat at the emotion flowing around the auditorium.  It was amazing.

Then, one of the models, Rachel, came dancing onto the stage.  A tall redhead, this was her third year as a Maggie’s model, and she looked fantastic – she was loving it!  As she got to the front of the stage (singing all the way, I might add!), she stopped and looked at a point in the crowd, I assume at her family.  And perfectly timed, she thrust her arm in the air and sang along to the words, “I’m bulletproof!”

It was at this point I cried for the first time that evening.  There would be more.

So you can see why I’m finding it hard to write about make-up, hairstyles, outfits, what the models said, what the judges thought, and who I thought was going to win.  Because to be honest, I’d kind of forgotten that’s why we were there.

During the interval, I dried my eyes and went backstage to try to do my job.  I managed to chat to the judges and asked them if they had a favourite at this point and they all said yes.  One of the judges, Jennie Patterson said that it had been “…such a good process…” and that the show was “amazing”, but she didn’t give away who her favourite actually was…
 
The finalists
 

In the next room, I found male models looking for their clothes (unfortunately, they found them – I had suggested they just wear their pants, but they obviously didn’t think that was such a good idea…), a pretty, young girl looking nervous, and a frantic search for a dustsheet.  A dustsheet?  I was confused.

My usual last-minute research and lack of programme-reading meant I had totally missed the fact that Freedom Hairdressing’s Irving Miskell-Reid (the brains behind the DFOF events, and long-time fundraiser for Maggie’s) would be doing a haircut live on stage!  That explains the dustsheet then…

I hurried back out to my seat to watch the rest of the show.  Then, the time came for the live haircut.  Out came the dustsheet.  And Irving.  And the pretty girl who had been sitting back stage.

Turns out that the pretty girl is in fact the very brave 22-year-old Sarah Robertson – the other real reason we were all there. 

Sarah’s friend, Andrew McMahon, stood on stage next to her and told her story, while she stood, in front of 400 people and let Irving cut her hair, which she will be donating to the Little Princess Trust, a charity who provides real hair wigs to children suffering hair loss.

Sarah’s story wasn’t easy to listen to.  Andrew began by telling us that Sarah had found a lump in her breast last year, and that’s when I stopped writing in my notebook.  I couldn’t write anything.  I just listened.  I listened to how the lump came back again and again, and how finally Sarah moved home to Dundee after working in England, to begin treatment.  And all the while, Sarah stood in front of 400 hundred people and let Irving cut her beautiful, long hair.
Irving cutting Sarah's hair live on stage

Andrew told us that Sarah has been diagnosed with grade 3 invasive breast cancer, and continued by saying that, “Sarah starts her chemotherapy tomorrow”.  As soon as he said the word 'tomorrow', there was a deafening silence from the crowd.  I could feel people tighten in their seats around me.  An uncomfortable ache from 400 people is difficult to miss.  But my heart went out to Sarah, who couldn’t control her emotions anymore.  Irving hugged her.  Andrew hugged her.  400 people in the audience wanted to hug her.  And this is when I cried for a second time that night.

I couldn’t really concentrate much after that, but I was there to document an event, so I had to dry my eyes again and get on with it.

The fabulous Hayley Scanlan and Dundee’s Dreamland kitted out the models for their final catwalk parade, and after a bit of music from Dundee band Model Aeroplanes, the very beautiful (and very tall!) Justina Smile was announced as Dundee’s Face of Freedom 2014. 

Justina Smile - Dundee's Face of Freedom 2014
 
The grand finale
  
I milled around backstage for a while and tried to soak up some of the electric atmosphere, but I felt so humbled by Sarah’s courage, and by the lust for life oozing out of every one of Maggie’s Models, that all I really wanted to do was get home, hug my husband and kiss my kids.  And that’s exactly what I did.
But before I left, I saw Sarah chatting with friends.  I had to talk to her.  I approached her and said, "you are inspirational".  She said thank you, and I reached out and touched her newly-cut hair and told her she was beautiful.  I walked away quite quickly.  That was the third time I cried that night.

 

“Without Maggie’s, where would I be…?” Tracie, Maggie’s Model 2014

xx
 
 
 
Lots of people helped make DFOF2014 a huge success and I probably haven’t given them as much ‘blog-time’ as they are due.  So here’s my list of amazing DFOF2014 people –
 

Irving Miskell-Reid
Sarah Robertson and Andrew McMahon
Maggie’s Centre Dundee Staff and volunteers
Kezia Rose
Pauline Brown
Maggie’s Models – Arlene Fenton, Rachel Gorrie, Pauline Waite, Beverly Ward, Alison Mills, Tracie Coyne, Fred Mackay, Ron Mawhinney, Catherine Docherty, Val Wilkinson
The young models – Erika Ward, Caitlin Ward, Jennifer Mills, Bethany Cathcart, Liam Porter, Bobbi-Lea Smith, Corra Mackay
The Freedom Team – Kelsey Marshall, Lisa Cassidy, Elle Kinney, Jade Douglas, Kirsty Hunter, Nicola Stewart
The Judges – Karen Bowen, Dom Migele, Gail Sneddon, Pamela Beattie and Jennie Patterson
The MUAs – Meredith Scott, Carol Paterson, Karen Rose Simpson, Jill Sime, Jillian Elisabeth, Rachel Key, Margaret Wilson
Jenny Smith (Debenhams Personal Shopper)
Lucy Ryden from Rosy Tuesday
Hayley Scanlan
Jill Skulina
Ruby Coyne
Suzanne Scott – WhiSicAL LusH
Lynne Duffus – Lovely Things
Dylan Drummond – Son of the Sea
TammyLyn Shaw
Viktoria Begg
Kathryn Rattray
Mike Press
Gary Langlands
Gordon – Frameworks photography (more DFOF2014 pics here) http://www.frameworksphotography.co.uk/dundee-face-freedom-2014/
And all the others I’ve forgotten!!!

 
Please take the time to donate to Sarah’s page -

 
xxx

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this fabulous blog Kerry. Absorbing, interesting. Really important subject and really well written - talented woman!

    ReplyDelete