A Moray community is rallying round a woman who lost her dream home in a fire by staging a fundraising fashion show this evening.
Joanna Davidson was left disconsolate when her roadside cabin near Tomintoul was reduced to cinders by a devastating blaze in October.
She had moved to the chalet a decade earlier in an effort to escape the “rat race” in Aberdeen.
But, as soon as the smoke had cleared, Ms Davidson announced her intention to build a new chalet at the spot she had grown to adore.
Friends in Tomintoul took her in over the past few months, while she attempted to collect enough money to begin rebuilding the property.
And tonight, at the village’s Richmond Memorial Hall, well-wishers will stage a “nearly new” fashion show to help boost her collection.
The event will take place from 7.30pm, and people will be able to buy the donated clothes at the end of it.
Yesterday, Ms Davidson said she had been moved by the kindness Moray residents had shown her.
The 66-year-old added: “People in Tomintoul have been absolutely superb to me and they have been such a support.
“And folk have donated clothes from all over Moray, we have eight rails ready to go for the night.
“Six models will show off the clothes, which are in super condition, then people can buy what they like at the end.
“It’s all to raise money to help me rebuild, that was my dream spot and I am aiming to have a new one there by summer.”
Ms Davidson collapsed several times before Christmas, as the stress of being homeless over the winter sank in.
After a two-week stay at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, she was eventually transferred to Dufftown to be closer to her beloved Tomintoul.
She was deemed fit enough to be released shortly before Christmas and has been renting with a friend in the Cairngorms village.
Ms Davidson added: “It’s taken a while to get over what happened, but having this show to plan has given me something productive to focus on.”
