A WORCESTER mum-of-three has brought the curtain down on a month-long fund-raising costume quest for Comic Relief
Paula Pearson has delighted passers-by with a different outfit every day this month. She appears in costume to entertain care home residents and her son’s school friends
She’s been a minion, a fairy queen and a pirate, Big Bird and Cat in the Hat but today (Friday) marked her final fund-raising outfit when she collected her son from school.
Paula’s is currently on maternity leave with her six-month-old twins. She also has a six-year-old son
She has loved dressing up since she was a small girl. It was a family tradition for New Years Eve, and anytime if there was an excuse.
“I have fond memories of the joy and laughter it brings and brought it with me into adulthood with my own family. We all love dressing up and my boys have been amazingly supportive of this fund-raising journey that I have been on. Even my daughters smile watching me get into costume,” she said.
“I thought my son would have been embarrassed by it all, but in fact he is really sad that it’s coming to an end.
“He has loved the buzz of his school friends all eagerly waiting for me to walk into the playground and see what I look like and to see the reaction from the general public when we are out and about. It’s been a laugh and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”
She has smashed her £400 fund-raising target by nearly £200.
“Life has felt very serious recently and I just thought we could all do with a laugh. Comic Relief felt like the perfect charity for my fund-raiser. Red Nose Day is so well known, and you have faith that all the money you raise will go where it’s needed most,” she said.
Her routine has been to park at Lidl, which is one of the locations parents are allowed to park at for drop off and pick up, walk to the Belmont Care Home to say hello to the residents and entertain them, then head over to the school.
From there, she and her son walk back to the Lidl, waving to people driving past and giving shoppers a laugh.
Paula has been a nursery nurse and children’s entertainer/ party hostess in the past, so loves to put on a show and make people smile or laugh, even at her own expense.
“It brings me great joy knowing that I might have made someone’s day, purely from being a bit silly and outgoing. I had a lot of costumes and props already, some of which were raided from the kids dressing up box!”
She found extra outfits by looking on Facebook market place and buying outfits from a local lady, who was having a clear out.
“She kindly let me have most of the props for free and sold the costumes at a good price, knowing the reason behind me buying them.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rednoseday23-paula-p for more.
