The Fashion & Textile Children's Trust - Case Studies

You may recall that I posted a little while ago about The Fashion & Textile Children's Trust (formerly the Textile Industry Children's Trust). I thought I would post a couple of case studies to demonstrate how the charity helps young people:

Jaimie:

Jaimie Boubezari was just three years old when he first demonstrated his love of performing. While watching his older sister taking part in speech and drama classes, Jaimie was clearly eager to be involved and soon also began taking part in the classes.

At the age of five, Jaimie began taking dancing classes, further fuelling his ambition to one day be a performer. Despite his young age, his talent was evident and he had soon attracted the attention of an agent. Over the next few years Jaimie appeared in television commercials and films including Ali G Indahouse.

With his clear talent and passion for acting growing all the time, Jaimie’s parents enrolled him at a specialist performing arts school when he was nine. At the age of 11, he auditioned for a place at the prestigious Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Jaimie and his parents were delighted when he won an 80% scholarship, but knew that they would need to find additional funding to pay for the fees and equipment.

Fortunately, Jaimie’s mother, Rosemary, found out about the grants available from Textile Industry Children’s Trust, which has part-funded Jaimie’s school fees during his time at Italia Conti. During her teens, Rosemary used to work on her parents’ market stall in Glasgow selling children’s clothes. Even though it was some time ago, Rosemary’s involvement in textile retail meant that she was eligible for a grant from the TICT.

Jaimie is now 16 and is a few months into a three-year diploma course at Italia Conti, which is also part-funded by the TICT. Following the diploma, Jaimie intends to become a professional actor.

Jaimie said: “I have really enjoyed my time at Italia Conti and have already had the chance to perform in the West End for a year in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I’m really grateful to the Textile’s Industry Children’s Trust for making it possible for me to study at an academy devoted to my passion.”

Rosemary said: “Attending the Italia Conti Academy has been such a fantastic opportunity for Jaimie. Without the help of the grant from the Textile Industry Children’s Trust, I don’t know how it would have been possible for Jaimie to follow his dream.

“Sadly they are no longer with us, but I know that my parents would have been absolutely delighted to know that their business in the textile industry has helped their grandson to pursue his ambition to become a performer after all these years.”

Franny:

Franny, 13, has cerebral palsy and is dependent on a wheelchair, which has an impact on her independence. When Franny was five, her mother Clare realised that a tricycle would be a good alternative to a wheelchair as it allowed her greater independence and also gave her cardio-vascular exercise as she needed to pedal to power herself along.

Unfortunately, unlike wheelchairs, tricycles are not currently available via statutory health or social care bodies, but with the help of friends and families, Clare managed to raise funds to buy a specialist tricycle for Franny.

The tricycle provided an effective solution, but as Franny grew older, it became too small for her. The cost of a new purpose built tricycle was going to cost twice as much the original model had cost – Clare knew that they would need to find additional funding to afford it.

Clare heard about the Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust through a relative, and as she had worked in various roles at John Lewis in her early career was eligible for a grant. Along with contributions from friends, family and other organisations, the grant made it possible for Clare to buy the tricycle for Franny in summer 2010.

Clare said “The tricycle is fantastic – it gives Franny a sense of independence that would not be possible without it. It seems a long time ago now, but I was delighted when I found out that the fact I’d once worked in the textile retail industry meant we could get a grant.

“We are really grateful to the Trust for helping to fund the tricycle, which makes such a difference to Franny.”