ELEVEN models took to a catwalk last week in a bid to raise money for Rowcroft Hospice.

The event, which took place on Friday, was organised by sixth formers Kate Ralston and Beth Tompkins along with Kate’s sister Amy.

The evening was in memory of 17-year-old Beth’s mum, Nicola, who passed away in December at the hospice after battling with cancer.

The 1920s-themed extravaganza, held at Newton Abbot’s Coombeshead Academy, featured a catwalk of pre-loved and new dresses as well as live music from Newton’s Got Talent winner Aspen and runners-up Kindred Spirit.

There was also a raffle and an art and photography exhibition.

Beth said: ‘I am so appreciative of everyone’s support and hard work towards the dress spectacular that was held in memory of my amazing mum.

‘It was the perfect way to celebrate my mum’s life and raise money for such an amazing charity.

‘I will always be extremely grateful for everyone’s individual efforts towards the event as without them it would never have been so great.’

Kate said: ‘Dress Spectacular was an absolutely fantastic evening for Rowcroft, which is close to all of our hearts.

‘It was everything we expected and more.

‘I would like to thank everyone involved as we really couldn’t have done it without them and we look forward to revealing the final amount very soon.’

Nineteen-year-old Amy, said: ‘I would like to personally thank our 11 amazing models, hairdressers Jo Burns and Becky Paignton for providing their services free of charge, and Rachel Jones for helping to make our models look extra glam.

‘It is so heartwarming when people from our community get together to support such an amazing charity.

‘It was such a fun event to be part of, lots of hard work, but so much fun.’

Caroline Wannell, head of retail at Rowcroft, said: “Our charity shops play a vital role in raising funds. The dress spectacular was a wonderful opportunity for the hospice to showcase some of its stock and was a huge success.

‘We are so grateful to Coombeshead Academy for choosing to support Rowcroft and our special thanks go to Kate, Beth and Amy for all of their hard work.’

But it wasn’t just the dress spectacular that raised money for the hospice – earlier this month Nicola’s husband Clive ran the Rome Marathon in an impressive time of three hours 55 minutes, and his Just Giving page total stands at £2,618.

A group of Nicola’s friends organised a charity auction at Ipplepen Village Hall earlier this month, with Graham Barton from BBC1’s Homes Under the Hammer acting as auctioneer. It raised more than £5,000.