Archive press releases

Centrale Shopping Centre has given an early Christmas present this week – nearly £8,000 in fundraising to Breast Cancer Care. Although it is a sad fact that 1 in 3 women will be affected by breast cancer at some point in their lives, new treatments and improved medical care mean survival rates have improved. Early detection however, is a key force in the fight against breast cancer, which is why Centrale – following the success of their Easter Style Live event - hosted a whole fortnight of activities in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness month[1 ] this October.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who got involved with the Style Live Pink event,” comments Rebecca Smith, Area Fundraiser at Breast Cancer Care. “120 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every day so the demand for our free services is greater than ever. We couldn’t help so many people if it wasn’t for the hard work and generosity of people like the Centrale Shopping Centre management team and their customers. Thank you to everyone who donated - your efforts have made a real difference to the lives of people affected by breast cancer.”

Many of Centrale’s retailers, including Next, Boots, Debenhams and Sony, sold products with a percentage of sales being donated directly to breast cancer charities. Staff at the centre also entered into the theme by dressing in pink. Centrale provided entertainment for all with shoe shine tap dancers, face painters, balloonists, walk about pink characters and chorus girls – and Centrale staff urged shoppers to donate their spare change to charity buckets. In addition to the fundraising fun expert advisors from Croydon Primary Care Trust were available to speak to women concerned about breast cancer.

Style Live Pink culminated in a fantastic 3-day fashion spectacular and Croydon shoppers were treated to exclusive previews of the new season’s fashions for men, women and kids with fun-filled catwalk shows running all day. The shows were hosted by celebrity hairdresser Andrew Barton (star of 10 Years Younger and winner of the coveted title of UK’s Most Wanted Hair Icon ) and top stylist Mark Heyes (fashion correspondent for GM:TV ). They also gave free one-to-one demonstrations, offering expert advice in their ‘hair’ and ‘style’ lounges.

On Saturday 25^th October, Centrale Shopping Centre will play host to the “Waste Not, wear it!” fashion show. The show, part of the Croydon Eco Expo initiative, will feature collections created entirely from the ‘already exisiting’ – making use of recycled materials and eco products.

Models will strut their stuff down Centrale’s catwalk in the central atrium from 2pm, before being modelled by live mannequins in the centre’s shop windows from 3pm – 5pm. Many of the designs have already been previewed – they

were included in the prestigious London Fashion Week this year.

The incredible on-off pieces were produced by fashion collective REVAMP and guest designers – including two graduates from Croydon College, Rebecca Tommasi and Ozlem Mehmet. Both are heavily involved with the Croydon show, with Ozlem working as a photographer at the event and Rebecca as one of the co-ordinators.

Many of the textiles were sourced through Cancer Research UK’s charity shops, which means every design on show has helped raise money for charity as well as reduce carbon footprint. Fittingly the show will appear as part of a fortnight of fundraising initiatives at Centrale Shopping Centre, all in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

On Thursday 30^th October Centrale’s 3-day Fashion Extravaganza ‘Style Live Pink’ starts, with catwalk shows running all day hosted by TV personalities Mark Heyes (GMTV) and Andrew Barton (10 Years Younger) it promises to be a lot of fun. Centrale and its retailers hope to raise over £20,000 for Breast Cancer Care: look out for staff collecting for Breast Cancer Care throughout the centre.

Please visit www.centrale.co.uk for more photos from the “Waste Not, wear it!” eco fashion show and further on Style Live Pink. If you would like to send a photographer to the event or would be interested in speaking to either Rebecca or Oslem, please contact Lara on 01903 821 550

Nearly 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year – that’s nearly one person every 11 minutes. Although it is a sad fact that 1 in 3 women will be affected by breast cancer at some point in their lives, new treatments and improved medical care mean survival rates have improved. However, early detection is a key force in the fight against breast cancer, which is why Centrale will be hosting a fundraising fashion extravaganza (Style Live Pink ), all in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month[1] this October.

From the 20^th October to the 1^st of November, Centrale will be putting on an array of pink activities in order to raise as much money as possible for breast cancer charities. Top brands including Next, Boots, Debenhams and Sony, will be selling products with a percentage of sales being donated directly to charity.

Style Live Pink really hots up from Thursday the 30^th October, when Centrale’s 3-day fashion spectacular begins. Following the success of Centrale’s Easter Style Live event, Style Live Pink will give Surrey shoppers an exclusive preview of the new season’s fashions for men, women and kids with fun-filled catwalk shows running all day.

The shows will be hosted by celebrity hairdresser Andrew Barton (star of 10 Years Younger and winner of the coveted title of UK’s Most Wanted Hair Icon ) and top stylist Mark Heyes (fashion correspondent for GM:TV ). If you’re having a hair or fashion crisis, demonstrations will be carried out by Andrew Barton located at Centrale’s Hair Lounge, whilst Mark Heyes will be hosting fashionworkshops in the Style Lounge. Pat Ayerst Centrale’s colour expert will also be on-hand to offer free one-to-one consultations on colour styling, with all donations welcome.

David Parham , Centrale’s Centre Manager, comments: “After the success of our Easter fashion show event this year, we knew that Style Live would become a popular and permanent fixture in Centrale’s calendar. However Style Live Pink promises to be even bigger and better with a whole fortnight of activities to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in addition to our fantastic three day fashion show. We are delighted to be doing our bit to raise as much money as we possibly can for worthy breast cancer charities, and we are sure we’ll have fun doing so with the help of our retailers and shoppers.”

Shoe shine tap dancers, face painters, balloonists, walk about pink characters and chorus girls will all be part of the Style Live Pink event at Centrale. When you’ve shopped until you’ve dropped, pop into Café Giardino where you will find their ‘Pink Tea Party’. This is the ideal way to re-charge your battery whilst donating towards breast cancer charities.

In addition to the fundraising fun there will be expert advisorsfrom Croydon Primary Care Trust and hair loss charity, Head Strong. These one-to-one drop in sessions will offer valuable advice on sensitive topics connected to breast cancer.

Centrale and its retailers hope to raise over £5,000 for Breast Cancer charities this October in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A raft of events and initiatives will be happening throughout the month and money raised will go towards research into curing breast cancer. Please visit www.centrale.co.uk for further on Style Live Pink.

[1] October has been Breast Cancer Awareness Month since 1993, when Evelyn Lauder Of Estee Lauder launched it worldwide.

Centrale appears to be weathering the storm of economic slowdown and has attracted a prestigious new opening – T.M.Lewins. The famous shirt-makers have a 110-year-old heritage and are credited with inventing the first shirt with buttons. Revolutionary at the time, they serviced the capital’s white-collar workers from their outlet on Jermyn Street in London.

T.M.Lewins continue to be a popular choice amongst our city workers, offering over 200 different shirt fabrics with ongoing discounts and offers in-store. T.M.Lewins believe their range of different cuts, designs and collar sizes offer the sort of individuality usually only attributed to personal tailors. They also offer suits, ties and business accessories.

David Parham, Centre Manager from Centrale noted, “The centre has continued to attract the very best retailers and we are certainly the fashion-conscious shoppers first choice in Croydon.”

Robert Isaac, Director of the company says “It is clearly a formula that works. The business has shown rapid growth in recent years and the incredible value for money is obviously speaking volumes as we are still growing year-on-year despite the credit crunch that has hit many other retailers.”

Eight years ago T.M.Lewin had just a few branches in the city of London. Now it has 60 outlets across the country. They appear to be avoiding the high street slowdown and according to recent sales figures (they sold 1.8 million shirts last year) they are reaping the rewards of an expansion drive.

T.M.Lewins will celebrate the opening of its doors to the public on Friday 12^th September with complimentary champagne for all shoppers. They will also be offering all their fantastic shirts (normally priced between £57 and £85) at £25.00.

GMTV will be coming live to Croydon on July 7^th - giving one lucky local the fashion makeover of a lifetime!

Come join in the fun as GMTV’s fashion expert, Mark Heyes, broadcasts live from Centrale Shopping Centre for ‘LK’s Mobile Makeovers’.

Croydon will be Mark’s first stop as he travels up and down the country visiting shopping centres in Sheffield, Bristol and Glasgow.

One lucky Croydon resident will be picked to receive a top-to-toe makeover which includes Mark’s top fashion picks, expert advice from celebrity hairdresser, James Brown, and A-list make-up tips from celebrity make-up artist, Ciona Johnson.

There will also be mini-makeovers and small giveaways for other lucky viewers, so get yourself down there!

"I’m so lucky - I have the best job in telly!" said Mark. "I spend most of my time trawling the shops in Oxford Street, so this new series is a fantastic opportunity to explore the stores up and down the country. I’m really looking forward to meeting viewers and doing what I do best - talking fashion!"

Centrale will be opening its doors especially at 8.00am, where the centre staff will provide a free breakfast of hot drinks, pastries and fruit juice to early arrivers.

Visit www.centrale.co.uk for more details on how you can win a fabulous free makeover live on GMTV.