Pupils dress to impress to unite the community

The community fashion show, held at Batley Town Hall and inspired by Kirklees Council’s Community Heritage Team, was led by eight pupils who aimed to promote a greater cultural understanding between communities.

The project involved a lot of sweat and tears over a two-month period, as a host of pupils and staff took to the catwalk – as well as showing of their dance moves and vocal talents.

Two girls hosted the night’s free extravagant proceedings, which involved fashion parades from Eastern, Western and African cultures. These individual catwalks were then complimented by dance performances to support each segment.

The acts were extremely well received by the audience who demanded encores from two of the performance pieces; a duet by two Year 10 girls (Aqsa Hussain – who also co-hosted the event with Ayesha Siddiqua – and Tia Ramsden) as well as an upbeat and energetic Bollywood-style routine.

Once the live show was over there was the chance to enjoy catering from all of the cultures featured – African, British and Asian.

The eight pupils who led the project all had a keen interest in fashion, as well as business management – areas in which they want to continue to expand their knowledge and experience.

The stand out designer turned out to be Muhsin’s in Ravensthorpe, who we thank for their valuable contribution.

Westborough High School enjoyed working with the Community Heritage Team at Kirklees, and would be delighted if this relationship could continue so we could host future events.

Habiba Patel, who oversaw the project, said: “The event was a tremendous success. It was a pleasure to work closely with some amazingly talented and dedicated young people. It was also nice to see other staff get involved – especially strutting their stuff on the catwalk.

“But it wasn’t just people from Westborough though as others from the local area kindly volunteered their services, namely Kiran from Amana Beauty and Spa and former pupil Suriya Sadiq who assisted with hair and makeup, along with Kulsum Patel and students from the University of Huddersfield.

“It truly was a community event enjoyed by everyone.”