Spam hat and embroidered fisherman’s smock take centre stage at awards ceremony
The 2023 GoCardless JustGiving Awards take place on September 25 at London’s Roundhouse.
A woman who wore 100 crafted hats for 100 open water swims and another who embroidered memories into her mother’s fisherman’s smock have been selected as finalists for a fundraising awards ceremony.
The 2023 GoCardless JustGiving Awards take place on September 25 at London’s Roundhouse and for Jule Harries, who was chosen as a finalist in the creative fundraiser of the year category, the news filled her with excitement.
Ms Harries, 58, from Surrey, donned 100 different elaborate hats, the majority of which she has made, as she took on 100 open water swims over an 18-month period, ending on June 25.
“I loved researching the themes for each hat – I tried to match the hats to things that were happening in the world.”
“When Meatloaf died, I wanted to do something because I was a fan of his when I was younger and I remember the album cover of Bat Out of Hell and just had this image in my head of this heart flying out, which is the end of the song,” she said.
“I had a fairly lifelike anatomical heart, so that was the first one I actually made.
She added that her spam hat started off as a “soggy mess” and some took multiple attempts to get right, but it was worth if for the “really nice” reactions from people who witnessed her swims.
When asked if she plans to wear one of her unique creations to the awards ceremony, she coyly said: “I do have one in mind, but I’m not going to tell you what it is.”
Ms Wolffe, 57, made the shortlist following her creative idea to embroider her mother Alexandra’s favourite memories into her fisherman’s smock after the latter’s dementia diagnosis in April 2021.
Ms Wolffe’s mother studied art at university and used to make ceramics wearing a fisherman’s smock, which she became almost synonymous with.
“Without thinking, I said I was going to embellish it with embroidery and mum was excited about it.”
Ms Wolffe said her mum “deteriorated very quickly” following her diagnosis.
“She used to run the meals on wheels locally, she was provost of the local town and seeing that all change was on one level heartbreaking, and on another level, I just wanted to make sure she was safe.
“I think there’s also still a huge stigma around dementia and I wanted to break that.”
One of the most poignant memories which is part of the smock is of swallows.
“In her childhood and growing up into her 20s, she used to travel back and forth from Scotland to South Africa quite a lot, so I just feel like there’s a sort of affinity there.”
She has also sewn in ‘mumisms’ – phrases that her mother used to say to her, including “you can fly” and “use your head to save your legs” and still adds to the smock “here and there”.
“It just feels like you’re sewing love into the cloth every time you put another stitch in,” she added.
Ms Wolffe has raised more than £1,000 for Alzheimer’s Scotland with her efforts and to raise hopefully more awareness for the cause, she plans on wearing the smock to the awards ceremony in September.
“I will feel very proud to be carrying this bit of mum with me.”
Ms Harries fundraising page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/JuleHarries, while Ms Wolffe’s can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lois-wolffe
Details about the other categories and how to vote for a winner can be found via this link: https://page.justgiving.com/awardsvoting2023
