CARING students raised �500 for teenagers suffering from cancer after strutting their stuff on the catwalk as part of a music and fashion extravaganza.

The 30 students from Redden Court School in Cotswold Road, Romford held a fashion show on October 22 at St Peter’s Church in Gubbins Lane, Harold Wood for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Organiser and learning support worker at the school, Gill Bussandra said: “It is fantastic because we had such a wonderful response and everyone has said how much of a fantastic time they all had.”

The event saw the students from aged 14 to 16 modelling ballroom gowns worth up to �400 and there was also entertainment from the school’s choir.

The pupils had spent the last few months organising the show and they also had a helping hand from shops including Tesco, who donated clothes, HQ Shop in Romford and Dressed To Kill in Harold Hill also donated some outfits.

Gill said: “All the students really loved it because they were trying on ball gowns in excess of �400 and it was just like little girls dressing up because they got the chance to be fashion models for the day.”

Some of the funds raised on the day will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust where it will be used to build specialist units to help teenagers suffering from the disease.

The other half of the money will also go to help build a open air theatre at the school.

Gill said: “I think it is important that young people know what is going on in the world around them and I think it is part of their responsibility to raise money for those less fortunate than they are.

“We have had a few students who have been diagnosed with cancer and thankfully many of them are in remission so it is a charity that is very close to our hearts.”