Boost for Athlone shop as Love Island's Maura Higgins donates her outfits
An Athlone charity shop recently received a boost when it was given a donation of outfits owned by 'Love Island' celebrity Maura Higgins.
The clothes owned by the Ballymahon native were donated to the Vincent's shop on Church Street by her mother, Sharon, and will soon go on sale.
It's understood the collection consists of up to nine bags of outfits dating from Maura's work as a model prior to her appearance on the Love Island show.
In total, there are approximately 160 garments, mostly size 6 and 8, plus a selection of size 4 shoes and trainers, many unused and still with brand labels.
Maura is currently in the UK and is busy with TV commitments but said she was very happy to endorse the charity's work.
St Vincent de Paul announced the news, and shared a photo of some of the outfits, on social media.
It's now holding a competition to give ten people "special access" to Maura's donations in the local store.
"Due to Covid restrictions we are unable to facilitate a large number of people in our shop at any one time. So we are giving ten lucky shoppers special access to Maura's donations in our Vincent's Athlone shop," said the charity.
People can enter the competition on the St Vincent de Paul Facebook and Instagram pages.
Entries are being received up until 6pm this Sunday, and ten winners will then be chosen during the week commencing on Monday next, August 31.
Dermot McGilloway, SVP Retail Development manager said he knew there would be "considerable interest" in the items that had been donated.
“We are extremely grateful to Maura and her family for their generous donation and their thoughtfulness and support for SVP," he stated.
The winners of the competition will be allowed to purchase a maximum of five items each.
The donation of Maura's clothes to the Athlone shop attracted national media attention this week. It received a mention on Ryan Tubridy's RTE Radio One show this morning (Tuesday) and also appeared as a story in The Irish Sun newspaper.