Ashlee puts her vast wardrobe to work in support of a vital charity

A confessed shopaholic, the call centre worker from South Yorkshire has a wardrobe bulging with everything from one-off vintage pieces to piles of on-trend chain-store buys.

So, when her best friend’s father died from cancer, she decided to take on a unique fundraising challenge to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, while tackling her fashion fanaticism at the same time.

Throughout all of 2012, she will not be buying any new clothes, and will instead be donating £50 a month – which she would otherwise have blown on the High Street – to the cancer charity.

For the rest of the year Miss Roe, who lives in Bolton-on-Dearne with her partner Graham Kettle, will have to wear just what is in her main wardrobe.

However, the biggest challenge will be not wearing the exact same outfit twice for each of the 366 days.

“Before, as soon as payday came, I’d be straight out to the shops and seeing what I could buy”, Miss Roe said.

“Shoes and jeans were my biggest weaknesses. It’s fair to say I’ve got quite a big shoe obsession.

“I loved to shop in lots of different places. I’d get a lot of vintage stuff from Affleck’s Palace in Manchester, but if I needed a big bulk of things I’d go to Primark or New Look.”

It was when her friend Annie Wood’s father died from cancer last year that Miss Roe decided to raise money for Macmillan.

Alan Wood, known as Woody, was diagnosed with liver cancer only three weeks before he died in November.

“Woody was one of the coolest guys I have ever met”, said Miss Roe.

“He was like a father to me and when he passed away I was crushed.

“The nurses who helped him out were really good, they supported him and also supported his family as well.

“His daughter, Annie, is a true inspiration to me and she has a lot of ideas for fundraisers, and I just wanted to do my part.

“After the funeral, we were talking about raising money and I said I wanted to do something. It was a case of trying to figure out what we could do.

“Most people do sponsored runs and swims, something like that, but I wanted to do something different and something that was more personal to me.

“This challenge means that I’m giving up something that will be hard for me to do.

“My family and friends have been really supportive too, they all think it’s a really good idea for raising money.”

Now a month into her shopping ban, Miss Roe says the project is so far going well – although finding different clothing combinations every day is already becoming tricky.

It’s a bit difficult when you’re half-awake in the morning and trying to figure out what to put on”, she said.

“Tops are harder than anything else, because you can wear the same jeans a lot with lots of different things, but trying to find a different top half every day is more tricky.

“I’ve been wearing all sorts of random stuff, picking out whatever I can find – it doesn’t really matter if I’m just staying at home, but if I’m going out I have to put more thought into it.

“I’m also not one of those people who follows crowds anyway, so it’s even better for me to be able to wear really individual things.

“I’m learning that I don’t need to have an extensive wardrobe to be able to look different, it’s all about working with what you already have and reinventing it into a different way.”

Miss Roe intends to brush up her sewing skills over the next year and customise the 39 tops, 25 dresses, 14 jumpers and nine pairs of jeans she currently owns. These are in addition to 12 skirts, three jackets, 14 pieces of knitwear and five waistcoats.

Her daily outfit choices are also being recorded, along with photographs, on her new personal blog at www. woodyswardrobe.buzznet.com.

Miss Roe, who works as a coach at Sky in Sheffield, training call centre assistants, has also enlisted the help of her employer to raise as much money as she can for the cancer charity.

The company will be matching donations of up to £300 towards all money raised for Macmillan.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer, providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support.”

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/woodys-wardrobe.