Our celebrity cover journalist and Surrey Fashion Week co-founder Angela Sara West is not only busy chatting with the stars, including sensational supermodel Elle Macpherson (who graced our September cover), but is also campaigning with celebs for good causes, including ‘planet saviour’ Think Ocean, for whom she is finding famous faces to become patrons and ambassadors. Angela reveals plans for her new ‘passion mission’ – a year-long high street rejuvenation project in partnership with Think Ocean, Surrey Fashion Week, Carshalton’s Calladoodles store, Carshalton Artists, Surrey-based Great British Events and, of course, Surrey Rocks magazine.
Born and bred in Surrey’s beautiful village of Carshalton, I’m beyond proud to be following in my parents’ footsteps by embarking on a unique creative campaign to help my historic hometown. What’s more, with Surrey Rocks readers’ help, my innovative ‘Carshalton Rocks!’ campaign concept could consequently lead to a huge boost for ALL of our county’s ailing high streets!
This true ‘passion mission’ will see my Surrey Fashion Week celebrity charity catwalk show come to Carshalton this Christmas in aid of Think Ocean @thinkoceanearth with whom I recently started closely working on their ‘Be The Tide’ campaign to spread awareness of the importance of sustainability on both land and at sea, with everyone encouraged to play a little part in helping to save our precious planet.
Our #CarshaltonRocks campaign will also see a series of exciting events and pioneering projects in the village, including a Valentine’s Ball and River Wandle plastics clean-ups, throughout 2024.
Aiming to bring more footfall to this small and struggling Surrey high street that is so close to my heart, these motivating initiatives are coupled with my call for household names to assist with my all-new campaign and hop on board to help my much-loved home village’s high street. From ‘retail king’, former ‘Dragon’ and past Carshalton resident Theo Paphitis and Holly Tucker MBE (Surrey-based founder of notonthehighstreet and Holly & Co and the UK Ambassador to Creative Small Businesses), to ‘The Repair Shop’ presenter Jay Blades, ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ judge Patrick Grant and George Clarke’s ‘Amazing Spaces’ sidekick and ‘Tool Club’ presenter, upcycling genius Max McMurdo, I’m calling on famous faces I’ve interviewed over the years to assist with my year-long #CarshaltonRocks campaign.
SUCCESSFUL SURREY FASHION WEEK SEES MORE CELEBRITY CATWALK SHOWS!
Launched by Surrey’s very own Pussycat Doll, Kimberly Wyatt, and her international model husband, Max Rogers, who is also a ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’ judge, during London Fashion Week in 2021, I am delighted to announce that Surrey Fashion Week (SFW) – which I co-founded as a unique concept show full of fashion showcased by famous faces, along with music and entertainment, all fundraising for various charities and shining a spotlight on Surrey’s struggling fashion boutiques – is SO successful that the brand is expanding and will now see several annual events in collaboration with Surrey Rocks magazine. And the last weekend of November at Epsom Social (24th -25th November) and the first weekend of December will see SFW ROCKING CARSHALTON! A few of our spring 2023 SFW models, performers and VIP guests – including celeb chef Jameson Stocks and multi-award-winning author/film producer Donia Youssef (who are both having Hollywood movies made about their fascinating lives), along with ‘X-Factor’ star Russell Jones and Surrey-based Miss Great Britain finalist Danielle Baron – are among those already signed up for our next SFW and also as ambassadors for Think Ocean. To top it all off, Think Ocean’s first fantastic fashion collection created from ocean-recovered plastics will make its debut at our celebrity charity Christmas catwalk show. I am also working on a Think Ocean documentary film featuring famous faces, which will be shown on big screens at our Carshalton Rocks events and also screened in all UK cinemas soon.
#BETHETIDE – CALLADOODLES ROCKS THINK OCEAN!
My hard-working friend, Clare White, is manager of amazing multi-award-winning card & gift shop Calladoodles, a community-loving independent concept store on Carshalton High Street, whose customers include Channel 4’s ‘A Place in the Sun’ presenter Jasmine Harman and whose renowned clients include local artist John Stillman.
A veritable Aladdin’s cave of unique cards, fashion, jewellery decorations and gifts galore for your home, family and friends, Clare also now stocks Think Ocean’s gorgeous jewellery pieces and other products created from plastic waste they have recovered from our seas and then cleverly recycled. The store serves as a launchpad for designers, makers and artists, and sources ethically made products as much as possible, and is proud to be the Carshalton shop spearheading our revolutionary #CarshaltonRocks campaign.
In fact, Carshalton is something of an ‘eco village’, with community-run charity EcoLocal based in the tranquil natural setting of the Ecology Centre grounds next to Carshalton Ponds, in the heart of the local Heritage & Conservation Area. Aiming to achieve strong, vibrant communities in a healthy environment, EcoLocal also runs an annual Frost Fair on the first weekend of December.
CARSHALTON – WHERE SUSTAINABLE FASHION-MEETS-ART-MEETS-MUSIC & MORE
Another of Calladoodles’ incredible artists is Helena Vaughan, whose popular travel prints of Carshalton, and several of Surrey’s other towns and villages, can often be seen gracing Calladoodles’ colourful, eye-catching window displays. Helena and her artist husband co-founded the vibrant Carshalton Artists community, and is also assisting with our ‘Save The High Street’ campaign.
Bursting with shops, societies, curiosities, landmarks, parks, pubs and clubs, Carshalton’s village centre is also home to the CryerArts Centre, boasting a thriving arts and music scene. This buzzing community hub on the high street houses an auditorium and dance studio, along with the Spotlight bar and restaurant and an outdoor marquee. Not forgetting the historic Honeywood Museum, highlighting Carshalton’s fascinating past adjacent to this idyllic spot’s striking ponds, boasting a beautiful Leoni Bridge and spectacularly overlooked by the historic All Saints’ church.
CHRISTMAS ROCKS CARSHALTON
Clare and her neighbouring retailers always look forward to the run-up to Christmas, when Carshalton comes alive as locals head to the shops to purchase festive food and presents. But come the New Year, footfall decreases drastically, not picking up until the following Christmas period, and many of Carshalton’s retailers are now, reluctantly, considering closing their doors in 2024.
Serving the local community and beyond with all their card and gifting needs for nearly 15 years, creative Clare says sales have, sadly, suffered a dramatic decline over the years. And despite Carshalton’s eclectic mix of high street traders – which also include delectable Dotty’s Teahouse and cracking new wine bar Corks N Keg – collaborating on innovative initiative-after-initiative in the pretty little village, their retail establishments have only seen short-term returns. The picturesque shopping spot is simply not seen as a go-to ‘destination’, it seems…
My parents have both served our wonderful village for decades as past Presidents of Carshalton Rotary and its Inner Wheel Club, and I feel compelled to do whatever I can to help Clare and her fellow retail neighbours to keep our coveted high street alive and kicking.
A sign of the times, for sure… and with many a UK high street struggling, I aim to join forces with A-list retail experts and other famous faces to breathe life back into as many Surrey high streets as I can, beginning with my beloved birthplace.
CELEBRITY CARSHALTON
Oozing a rich history and heritage and known for its springs and fragrant lavender fields, Carshalton boasts many a claim to fame. Famous past residents include Sir Cliff Richard, who attended a local school, superstar DJ Carl Cox, aptly named cricketer Roger Bowles, most members of the band Mud and Hollywood legend Oliver Reed, who once owned The Orangery, an opulent building situated opposite the old library in The Square.
The Cure staged one of their very first gigs in the Victorian park here, which boasts a Georgian grotto, while the grand opening of Westcroft Leisure Centre, located just off the high street, saw a sensational ‘Strictly’ dance competition with the BBC’s flagship show’s stars Ian Waite and Kristina Rihanoff kicking off proceedings in true Strictly style. Close to the station, multi-award-winning The Hope is officially one of the best four pubs in the country. As a small child, I remember linking hands with my junior school peers around the tallest London Plane tree in Britain just a stone throw’s away, located in the park on the banks of the River Wandle, while my passion for writing blossomed exponentially after winning a book-writing competition at Carshalton Library at the tender age of ten. Before attending the Adventure pre-school in the picturesque Grove Park here, my son Harry witnessed the Olympic Torch being carried through the village just a month after his birth in 2012.
What’s more, Carshalton boasts one of the largest charity fireworks displays in the whole of South East England. In his active days in the Rotary Club, if my dad wasn’t manning the grand Carshalton Park gate here, rattling a can for various charities, he was shaking his stuff – and his can – at Carshalton’s historic Victorian train station, or running the London Marathon for local charities in his role as Carshalton Rotary’s President. My mum has just stepped down as President of the Rotary’s Inner Wheel club, and both still assist with fundraising for the village and charities.
A WINTER WONDERLAND – HIGH STREETS ROCK!
So, check your calendar and keep the first weekend in December free, when we will launch our collaborative Carshalton Rocks! campaign and bring a sparkling Surrey Fashion Week celebrity charity catwalk show to the village during its fantastic Frost Fair, which is held on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd December around the dazzling Carshalton Ponds. With a music, art and fashion-filled winter wonderland fuelled by Great British Events and in aid of Think Ocean on its way, Christmas in Carshalton will ROCK our county this year, so hotfoot it to the high street and together, let’s get this great family village firmly on the prosperous footfall map and back in booming business for many decades to come.
Follow Carshalton Rocks! on Insta @CarshaltonRocks! #CarshaltonRocks
DM me @angela_sara_west to jump on board and help us save our county’s cherished high streets!” Surrey Fashion Week: @surreyfashionweekuk
