My name is Avery Turner, and I am currently finishing Year 13 at Carmel College, where I have studied for seven years. I have taken Materials Technology for all of my years here, and this year we have been given lots of freedom for our project.
I contacted the Well Foundation, looking to work with them and raise money for their foundation. They work to support and fundraise for hospitals in Auckland and have had many successful projects. They were extremely positive about my project and we decided to focus on fundraising for their Diagnostic Breast Screening Service. I began to conduct research and design my outcome to later auction off in the hope of making a positive difference.
I originally had my heart set on making a beautiful, feminine flow dress that would empower and uplift women, as this was the aim of my project. I began to find some hiccups with this as since I was aiming to auction off my end product, I did not know what size and shape the final owner would be. I was emailing with Juliet, my contact at Well, and she mentioned that her and her cousin were playing around with making leather bags, and from there Mrs Goonan (my wonderful teacher) and I decided that this was the way to go.
Handbags are something that are so personal to women and are often a meaningful investment. This is exactly what I wanted to achieve when I was developing my project, and is now what I have created.
I have designed and created a functional and aesthetic hand bag that fits into everyday life, something that is an extension of your arm. It is sturdy and has so many features, all whilst being sustainably sourced and handmade. Above is a photo of my mock up.
It would make such an amazing difference to the lives of those suffering with Breast Cancer if you contributed to my project (whilst buying yourself a new bag!) as all money raised goes to help fund the new Screening Center, making it easier for patients to get treated in the same place at the same time instead of having to travel all over and far from home, dragging out treatment time.