Hebden Bridge News

Fundraising Friends Get Frivolous

A pair of West Yorkshire business women are in high spirits this week after selling their over 600 handbags and 1500 scarves since November!

To celebrate their success, Heidi Waddington and Shelley Lister of Something Frivolous held an event at Sowerby Bridge’s The Works last weekend. Over fifty women came along for a glass of wine and some retail therapy and the event raised over £150 for Breast Cancer Care and Forget Me Not Trust.

Shelley Lister and Heidi Waddington, set up Something Frivolous at the end of 2009. The pair – who became friends after a chance meeting on the swings at Shibden Park in Halifax (they both have young children!) then went on to work together as Independent Sales Leaders for the Body Shop At Home. Since leaving The Body Shop and starting Something Frivolous they have recruited a team of twenty Consultants, running Handbag and Accessory Parties across the UK from as far north as Aberdeen to as far south as Bexhill on Sea. Their Handbag Parties offer women a chance to enjoy a fun night in with their girlfriends where they can shop from the comfort of their own couch.

Heidi explains: “Just at the minute – when everyone is feeling a bit deflated after the emergency budget – it’s lovely to spend an evening in a room full of women, fawning over handbags and ‘ooo-ing’ and ‘aah-ing’ over scarves. It’s a totally girlie and utterly frivolous night in. It’s also a lot cheaper that a night out on the town – for a start, there’s no babysitter to pay and because nothing in our range costs more than £40 and our least inexpensive item is just £5, there is something to suit every pocket.”

An unlikely pairing at first glance (Waddington is almost 6ft tall, while her business partner is only 5’2’’), these Yorkshire lasses have their sights set on big things, planning to turn over in excess of £100,000 in their first year of trading. It seems that they are a match made in heaven, Shelley has a background in Operations and an excellent eye for detail whilst Heidi brings a wealth of Marketing experience to the frivolous table. What’s certain is that no one can doubt their enthusiasm and commitment.

Shelley explains: “We work together so well because we are so different. What we do have in common though is that we both LOVE handbags and accessories, so starting a business selling the very things we couldn’t get enough of ourselves, seemed to make sense. We source all the products ourselves through UK Wholesalers and Independent Importers – almost every day there is a box of something frivolous arriving in our office. It’s the best job in the world!”

Visit The Something Frivolous Website