be me: a fundraising afternoon
The High Tea is back and in a big way; it’s our trendy new thing to do and it’s not hard to understand why. Tea-sipping ladies wearing their Sunday best while indulging in sweet treats and juicy gossip? What’s not to love!
Here’s your chance to enjoy that luxury and do something worthwhile at the same time. You’re invited to a celebration—of beauty, of positivity, of you.
The woman behind the event is Melbournian Emilie Ash.
I met Emilie in a busy Brunswick cafe on a cold Melbourne Saturday, and over our respective soy latte and English Breakfast Tea I quickly discovered that in front of me was a passionate woman intent on helping change the way we think about ourselves and our bodies. For almost two hours we sat and talked about health, body image, the media, and her motivation to organise the Be Me High Tea Fundraising Afternoon for The Butterfly Foundation, an event she says took five years to get off the ground.
Her reasons for the event are simple: help raise money for The Butterfly Foundation, whose work in the community aims to bring about change to the culture, policy and practice in the prevention, treatment and support of those affected by eating disorders and negative body image, and gather like-minded people together to help spread the word of healthy body image and ‘make us girls feel gorgeous for who we are…a bit of a celebration for being us.’
Healthy body image, according to Emilie, is about feeling comfortable in yourself and being healthy to your proportions, and it’s very much about mentality as it is the physical body.
‘Just because a person looks completely healthy on the outside, doesn’t mean that they don’t crash diet or have unrealistic views on who they are and how they look. And that’s when it goes unnoticed.
‘I just want to educate people and get that out there. There’s still a bit of stigma attached—people don’t talk about it; it’s taboo. We need to start changing the way we talk about [body image and eating disorders], and the way we talk about it with our kids.
‘I can’t change the whole of society’s thinking, but if I raise some money and inspire even just a couple of people, that would be awesome.’
The Event
Celebrate healthy body image and the beautiful individuals we are by joining us for a decadent high tea at the Melbourne Winehouse and raise money for The Butterfly Foundation.
When: Saturday 26th May 2012 @ 2pm-4pm
Where: Melbourne Winehouse, 133 Queensbridge Street Southbank VIC 3006
Cost: $50 (plus booking fee) includes a glass of bubbly on arrival, high tea, non-alcoholic beverages and a complimentary gift bag. All proceeds go to The Butterfly Foundation. You can purchase tickets here.
Places are limited and tickets are selling fast so be sure to snap some up before Monday 21st May.
