Teen Leanne shares her story at the Teens Unite Fashion Show

Teen post by Leanne Cresswell - http://www.leannecresswell.com

"On Friday the 18th of March, I had the pleasure of attending Teens Unite Fighting Cancer's Fashion Show, an evening which saw a three course dinner into the night, with a variety of exciting entertainment too! The main entertainment was all about Fashion, as some of the very brave Volunteers and Teens supported by the charity, took their glammed up selves to the Catwalk to strut their stuff! Needless to say, I wasn't modelling for the show, I mean lets be honest with my luck, I would have ended up tripping over my own two feet - a complete Danger zone! However, I was given an amazing opportunity to share my story and carry out a speech before the Fashion Show took place.

Personally, I have always been a fairly confident yet awkward person in general. People seem to say I come across as an overall confident person, yet deep down, I am actually very shy and it may take a while for me to break out of my shell. I've never really had a problem with presenting in front of people or speaking out aloud, but when you narrow it down to a speech about a personal experience of battling Cancer (with feelings and all) in front of maybe a little more than 150 people, it's completely daunting and usually I would much rather let someone else do the talking. But it's something that I just couldn't say no too - I was so determined! What a great opportunity to be able to talk about a Charity that has helped me so much through my Cancer Journey!

I wanted the speech to include a little background information about my life before Cancer and the feelings I felt when upon receiving diagnosis. It's strange because I am the type of person that can write about how I feel with no trouble, but reading feelings out aloud is a completely different story. I struggle. But I managed to include some little bits, which then lead on to the main points of the speech which for me was the most important part. I wanted to show how Teens Unite have made a massive positive impact in my life. I included my favourite days out that I have had with the Charity and I really hope people could see how much of a positive effect that the charity has had upon myself and many other Teens that have once battled or are currently battling this awful disease."



"On the night, founder of Teens Unite, Debbie, introduced me to the stage and then it was all down to me to say my bit. I thought I would be a lot nervous than I was, but once I started, it flowed through (I hope). It was a little bit of a blur and I can't remember if I was pronouncing my words right, but my main aim was not to think. Over thinking would lead to all sorts of disasters so I was pretty happy that I felt relaxed. Another Confident issue achieved thanks to Teens Unite. Before I knew it, my speech was over and I was so glad that I agreed to speak aloud, it was so worth it!

After my speech, the lovely host, Casey Batchelor introduced the Fashion show and the fun had begun! It was amazing to see how excited all of the models backstage were before it was their turn to walk on the catwalk. It was also inspiring to see a few Teens that are supported by the charity also take part, some being extremely nervous as they were out of their comfort zone, yet did amazing as well as everyone else who took part! Along with the Fashion Show, we were entertained by brilliant dancing from Kelsey who actually is extremely modest about it (haha!) and live music was also filling the room throughout the night."


"I'm extremely honoured to have been given the opportunity to share my story during the event and I can't thank Teens Unite enough, for giving me opportunities which have encouraged me to just say yes. It was such an enjoyable night which managed to raise an incredible amount of nearly £8000. From what it seems, everyone else had a blast too!"