You can now download my You Touched Me Book and EBay Booklet via the secret page.
Celebrity touched T-shirt auction
Introduction
I want to manage a project to raise money for a charity called The Relief Fund for Romania.
It is now more than 15 years since the world became aware of the thousands of children locked away in Romania's state institutions. In 1967 Ceausescu made abortion and contraception illegal in Romania leading to a huge rise in the birth rate. People were unable to care for their babies and the government took over care of these children.
The result was that during the 1970s-80s the number of children in state care rose enormously, reaching more than 100,000 and subsequently the government could not cope either.
A forgotten generation of children grew up in Romania, malnourished, suffering from cruelty and worst of all a lack of human touch. I have always been aware of these events in Romania but a recent documentary made me sit up and notice. One girl’s ordeal in particular pushed me to consider this project.
It was the story of a young girl in one of Ceausescu’s orphanages who, with the very rarest of exceptions, had no human contact for many years as staff in these orphanages often refused to touch children.
As a result she developed a severe mental handicap.
Knowing there are children who are mentally and physically disabled largely due to not being touched in a loving and caring way made me realise my concept could grow to incorporate this sad reality.
You touched me suddenly became real. Everyone needs human interaction and to be touched. Not being touched and cared for on an emotional level is almost as bad as starving.
The project outline
- In keeping with my idea of letting people touch the fabric and/or sending it on adventures, I want to approach public figures and try to persuade them to hold just enough fabric for one long sleeved T-shirt for as long as they can. (Overnight, a couple of hours or minutes) If they agree to a photo or to do something interesting with the fabric it will make the end result all the more effective and saleable. This will be the most difficult part of the project. Keep an eye on the website for updates on the celebrities who volunteered their time.
- Once all the fabric has been returned I will create unisex printed T-shirts.
- The garments will then be auctioned on Ebay with a minimum price tag of GBP 50.00 per garment.
- Hopefully they sell!
- All money raised will be donated to The Relief Fund for Romania.
