Costume design cuts it for The Little Princess Trust

Charity support for the Little Princess Trust: Simple Design Works supports charity runner, Tim Wheeler MBE, with a costume design that both performs and captures attention.

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Running away with the idea

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 take in 4,000 – 6,000 hair donations a month which 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 and 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 that was 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.

4,000
Hair donations a month
1
Marathons completed in 2022
1
Half marathons completed in 2022

Standing out from the crowd

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.  This year, Tim has run three marathons, five half marathons and one 10km race wearing the scissors and was:

  • Interviewed twice during the London marathon
  • Featured in the highlights video for the Great North Run and Manchester Half Marathon.
  • Featured in the Manchester evening news gallery.
  • Featured on the 2023 Manchester half marathon website.
  • Was the subject of a short feature as part of the Manchester 10km BBC coverage.
  • As well as achieving numerous local and regional coverage.

Whilst he takes a break from the cycle of train, prepare and recover, Tim is training for next year’s London Marathon having already secured his place.

The Simple Design Works design team with Scissor Man Tim who runs for national charity, The Little Princess Trust

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