We’ve just finished celebrating the annual ‘Courage on the Catwalk’ event in aid of Friends of Anchor – a fantastic local charity which supports and serves cancer patients throughout the North-east of Scotland.

Here at Kingshill Studios, we are delighted and humbled to have played a small part in this year’s event – (our third year as one of the volunteer photographers).  I’ve previously written about our involvement and why I choose to support Friends of Anchor here.

We were incredibly pleased to have been invited by charity founder Jimmy Milne, his daughter Sarah-Jane Hogg and their wonderful team to provide complimentary photography services for Courage on the Catwalk once again.

Courage on the Catwalk: A unique fundraising event

Courage on the Catwalk is a unique initiative by Friends of Anchor, and one of it’s biggest fundraising events.

Held over two days, at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom, it’s now in its seventh year and continues to go from strength to strength, raising much-needed funds for the charity’s vital support services for local cancer patients.

Friends of Anchor has provided funding for medical equipment, cancer research and support for patients in hospital. This year’s funds will help to finance a brand new £32m ‘Anchor Centre’ which, when built, will be the first of its kind in Scotland.

Portraits of the Courage on the Catwalk Models  

In the lead up to the event, I captured portraits of the women who were due to star in the 2019 show. These were all amazingly brave women local women who have faced a cancer diagnosis – past or present.

I took their portraits inside my photography studio here in Kingswells as well outdoors in the grounds of the studio, over a period of three days. These photographs were then used in the show programme, online and in the charity’s marketing materials in the lead up to the event.   

All the 24 Scottish women who took part, whose ages ranged from 18 to 77, brought quotes of encouragement with them to the photoshoot. I then added these motivational quotes to their portraits to create the final images you see here.

It was lovely to meet the ladies ahead of the show. Every single one was a complete inspiration and an absolute pleasure to photograph!

Courage on the Catwalk 2019

My friend and fellow photographer, Dani Rose was with me in covering the Courage on the Catwalk fundraising events for Friends of Anchor. Together, we documented the Ladies’ ‘Courage’ Shows and the wonderful Doug Niven and Lauren Polsen captured the Men’s catwalk show, ‘Brave’.  

Overall, the three Courage on the Catwalk events along with Brave ended up raising over a record-breaking £250,000 for the charity! A huge well done must to the fundraising team and to all who donated prizes and made contributions on the night!

Dani and I captured the events from start to finish, recording all the details including the behind-the-scenes action in the models’ dressing room. Each lady enjoyed having their hair and makeup professionally done, and a massage to relax them before they stepped out onto the catwalk. 

We also photographed the show in its entirety, recording these wonderful men and women as they strode down the runway in designer outfits, in front of an audience of hundreds of people and to rapturous rounds of applause.

Kinghill Studios also supports Friends of Anchor by donating the session fees from our very popular Fairy Experience to the charity. These magical sessions take place twice a year and I am proud to be able to add something extra to the pot. If you have a little fairy or elf and want to know how you can support Friends of Anchor by taking part in these sessions, click here.

For more information and to support Friends of Anchor, please visit their website.