If you’re a runner – or just enjoy watching races – you can’t fail to notice some of the eye-catching fancy-dress costumes. At this year’s London Marathon, there was an estimated 40,000 runners in fancy-dress tackling the 26.2 mile journey!
One of those running was Tim Wheeler MBE. Tim runs in aid of The Little Princess Trust. A UK charity that supplies a free, real hair wig to children with cancer to help restore their confidence and identity. Who happen to be our neighbours.
Running in costume is undoubtedly difficult but worthwhile if it means achieving publicity (and much needed funds) for charity. Tim runs as his alter ego ‘Scissor Man’. The Little Princess Trust receive a whopping 4,000 – 6,000 hair donations a month. These are made into wigs then given to families that need them. The scissors represent that side of the charity’s work and is a great conversation starter.
Tim approached Simple Design Works for advice when encountering difficulties with his costume.
Tim primarily runs to generate publicity. His previous costume was underrated and didn’t quite achieve the visibility he wanted to achieve. So, we designed over-sized scissors that were in the charity’s colours and completely sparkly – well, they had to stand out!
The scissors were fixed to a rucksack reinforced for stability and had the added bonus of holding running essentials. There were some initial hiccups during testing the prototype but that’s exactly why testing is crucial.
Hair donations a month
Marathons completed in 2022
Half marathons completed in 2022
As for achieving publicity, Tim believes that if it wasn’t for the bold and voluminous design then he wouldn’t have achieved such high-quality coverage. In 2023, Tim ran three marathons, five half marathons and one 10km race wearing the scissors. He achieved numerous local and regional coverage including:
