Bid for Hayleys Red Anorak

[alan45]

Julie Hesmondhalgh donates 'Hayley's red anorak' to charity

Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, has kindly donated a red anorak, similar to the one worn by her on-screen character, for the Wrap Up Against Poverty winter coat auction organised by Elizabeth Finn Care.

By bidding for the coat, which includes a personal signed message from Julie on the back, you could not only land yourself a quirky reminder the popular TV character, but also help people in financial need buy clothing to keep warm during the winter months.

The auction begins on eBay on Monday January 31st. http://www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/...y_coat_auction

[Chloe O'brien]

welll one Julie I hope they raise loads.

[alan45]

I want it!!!!!!

[Chloe O'brien]

I want it!!!!!!

Ig you bid for it and win it we want a photo on here of you wearing it.

[Perdita]

Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh has lent her support to a charity fundraiser by donating a signed red anorak similar to the one worn by her character Hayley Cropper.

The quirky item is going under the hammer in an online 'Wrap Up Against Poverty' auction, organised by the Elizabeth Finn Care charity - which works to help those who have fallen below the poverty line.

Money raised from the auction will be used to help people in financial need to buy clothing, allowing them to keep warm during the winter months.

As seen below, the coat donated by Julie has a signed message from the actress on the back, which reads: "You can't beat a lovely red anorak! Hayley wouldn't be seen without one, and neither should you. PLEASE BUY ME. Lots of love, Julie Hesmondhalgh x (Hayley in Corrie)."

Other famous faces who have donated coats for the auction include Lynda Bellingham, Meg Matthews, Clare Nasir, Tamara Ecclestone and Ruth Badger.

Malcolm Tyndall, Director at Elizabeth Finn Care, commented: "We have some wonderful coats to auction and we really appreciate the celebrities' generosity. By supporting the auction you could not only win a coat worn by one of your favourite celebrities but you will also be helping us to ensure people in financial need have warm clothes to wear during the winter months."

A final reminder - this is not the actual coat used in Coronation Street but is similar to the one we see in the show.


Starting off at £9.99

DS

[alan45]

....

As seen below, the coat donated by Julie has a signed message from the actress on the back, which reads: "You can't beat a lovely red anorak! Hayley wouldn't be seen without one, and neither should you. PLEASE BUY ME. Lots of love, Julie Hesmondhalgh x (Hayley in Corrie)."

[alan45]

After 13 years of playing Hayley (I know, where have the years gone?), I feel that the line which marks where Julie ends and where Mrs Cropper begins, gets more and more blurred. We are merging!

Yes, we have different hair and I’m not often caught nipping to the shops donning a red anorak, but there are more and more similarities between us the older I get.

Firstly, we’re getting closer in age. When I first played Hayley I was an upstart 27 year old and Hayley was about 41. Now we’re both bloomin' 41! And those who know and love me best (especially those who’ve felt the sharp end of the Hesmondhalgh tongue over the years; notably my long suffering dad, my husband and Antony Cotton), can easily spot when Julie has crept into the frame. Mostly when I have a scene where I’m being, let’s say, a little firm and no-nonsense with poor Roy. “THAT,” Antony will say the next day, “was Julie, NOT Hayley.”

So if Julie has allowed Hayley to learn a little assertiveness and given her a few much-needed tips on keeping the man in her life in line, Hayley, I hope, has taught me to be a marginally better person. To try to see the good in people, to have a bit more Cropperesque compassion in my day-to-day dealings. Not that I always succeed! I’m a LONG way off Hayley’s saintliness!

The thing I most love about the Croppers is their ability to be uniquely themselves. Fashions change, the years roll on, but Hayley and Roy stay true to themselves and each other- embodying all the good, old-fashioned values of loyalty, honesty, tolerance and constancy, and embracing their own eccentricities.

They’ve both been mocked and bullied for being different, but have the strength of character to be truly themselves in the world.

This week me and my real-life husband, the writer Ian Kershaw, have launched a creative writing competition in state secondary schools across Greater Manchester and East Lancashire. It's in memory of Sophie Lancaster - the young woman who was attacked, stamped on and kicked to death in a Bacup park in 2007 because she and her boyfriend Rob were Goths. Gentle souls who chose to express themselves through their personal style and culture.

Sophie’s mum, Sylvia, has dedicated her life since her daughter’s death to educating young people about the understanding of, and celebration of difference, of alternative cultures, of people who dare to be unique (www.sophielancasterfoundation.com). Her aim is to create a lasting and positive legacy to her beautiful Sophie…the battle cry being:

Stamp
Out
Prejudice
Hatred
Ignorance
Everywhere.

We hope by the end of this week, Sophie’s name and image will be on display in 209 schools around the North West and that hundreds of young people will be inspired to be creative and express themselves through poetry or prose. They could win themselves £100 and their school £1000 and have their winning entries read by big names from Corrie, Shameless and Waterloo Road and from the world of music and literature, at a glitzy prizegiving at Contact Theatre in Manchester in October.

The theme of the competition is DIFFERENCE. We could all learn something from our lovely Hayley when it comes to that.