Wellspring London hosted their first annual Toupee for a Day, on March 4th in hopes of raising funds and awareness for their cancer support services.
Toupee for a Day began in Calgary and was the inspiration for the London campaign. The event encourages participants to fundraise for Wellspring London services and entices them to wear their colourful toupee on the assigned day.
Joanna Meilleur, Director of Development at Wellspring London, says they brought the event to London to get people talking. “The challenge with Wellspring is that we don’t have the budget that a lot of organizations have to advertise, so with an event like this it’s really eye catching […] and it starts a whole conversation”
Meilleur says the Wellspring toupee was created using 10 different colours of hair, each representing a different cancer ribbon such as a pink ribbon for breast cancer, and a lavender ribbon for cancer supporters.
Melissa Selmes, a member of Wellspring London is fighting a rare form of ovarian cancer and insists support services was vital in her cancer journey. Selmes and her daughter Irelyn were the faces of Toupee for a Day London, as they appeared on the back of city buses for the past weeks.
While Toupee for a Day has passed this year, Meilleur says they continue to raise funds and any donation is greatly appreciated.