A West Sussex milliner, who has been affected by brain tumours, has taken part in a hat-themed charity fundraiser to help raise awareness of the disease.
Isabella Cobby, owner of Isabella Josie in Arundel, hosted a Wear A Hat Day parade in aid of Brain Tumour Research during the Arundel Literary Festival on 9th March.
The mum-of-two, who sells bespoke hats and headpieces, drew a lot of attention dressed as a Mad Hatter and was joined in the parade by a stilt walker, a trumpet player and others, aged eight to 80, dressed in hats ranging from fedoras and trilbies to flat caps and fantasy headpieces.
Isabella said: “As the road was being shut for the street festival, I thought it made sense to try and get people involved in Wear A Hat Day by holding Arundel’s very first hat parade.
“As the theme was World Book Day, I went as the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. We walked up the street a few times and made some noise. We got a lot of people talking and enjoyed a good amount of support from the town, which was lovely.”
Isabella collected more than £200 in donations on the day and, along with four other shops in Arundel, will be selling Brain Tumour Research pin badges to help raise further funds in the lead up to the official Wear A Hat Day event on Thursday 28th March.
Her inspiration comes from a friend who died of a brain tumour last year and another who had to work to regain her mobility following surgery to debulk a brain tumour eight years ago.
Having raised more than £2 million since being launched in 2010, Wear A Hat Day sees people don their favourite hats, hold hat-themed events and make donations to help find a cure for brain tumours.
It’s not too late to get involved and help us fund the fight to find a cure for all brain tumours. For more information on Wear A Hat Day, and to register to take part on Thursday 28th March (or any day in March that suits you), visit www.wearahatday.org
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