Nicola Ascroft runs her own business in the community centre at the heart of our housing estate. Her one-room spa was one of the most pleasant discoveries about life here. She does all of the massages, facials, manicures and pedicures you'd expect from a "proper" spa, but for much less than the established players in their big complexes charge. She's built a following of regulars and pursues more through monthly specials and flyers she distributes around the area herself. And rather than taking it easy in her unbooked time, she holds down a second job at a hair salon. So much for expectations of feckless youth.
Nicola counters another expectation. She's a beauty queen, in the running for Miss Hampshire. If I ever paused to think about beauty contests I doubt my impressions were positive; but then I'd never had any exposure beyond lampooning films and the odd glimpse of girls parading in bathing suits on TV. Miss Hampshire, as I've learned from Nicola, is about far more than good looks. It's a hunt for a young woman who will be a role model and PR representative for the county, and nabbing the prize requires effort on a variety of fronts worthy of a stint on The Apprentice.
She must demonstrate her green credentials and her creativity by designing a dress entirely of recycled materials. There's a PR component, in which she competes against her opponents to get the most media coverage. On the popularity front, she needs to deploy social media skills to get as many people as possible to like her photo. Singing a simple song won't do for the skills contest: Nicola brushed up her childhood figure skating to deliver a full, choreographed programme. Finally, contestants compete on the charity front to see who can raise the most for the contest's official charity, Beauty with a Purpose. And, of course, they need to look good, too. All while working full time. Clearly, the beautiful but lazy need not apply.
Nicola's charity efforts bring us to challenged expectation No. 3. I've had major events as part of my remit at work for more than a decade, run galas costing a fortune and had some brilliantly talented events people work for me. But if I told any of them to dream up an event with NO BUDGET, get people there and raise money on top … while working full time on other projects … I suspect they'd say it couldn't be done. Nicola just started knocking on doors.
Her Valentines' night formal event in our community centre featured a DJ and performances by two singers, plus a lively exhibition from a local dance troop. Guests could graze a cold buffet before moving on to a cupcake tower, buy drinks from a cash bar or make a little madness with the costumes in the photo booth. She even pulled in decorations and lighting to set the mood. All of this was donated by people Nicola approached with determination and cheerful cajoling. On top of that, she pulled together a raffle with about 20 different prizes, including bottles of wine and champagne, Jo Malone candles, salsa lessons and season passes to Wellington Country Park. Again, all prizes were donated, meaning the raffle tickets she organised her personal network to sell brought in pure profit. She was pushing towards £1,500 as we left the party (happily carrying two raffle prizes of the alcoholic kind).So let's review the expectations that Nicola's tumbled. English youth are actually determined and energetic types with entrepreneurial flair. Modern beauty queens are intelligent, determined young women with broad marketing skills. And it's possible to whip up a good event with no budget, and make money out of it, if you're creative and unafraid to ask for help. That's a very pleasant trio of lessons learned.
Nicola's spa, D&D beauty, is located in the Sherfield Park Community Centre. If you want to get in touch with her or book treatments, check out her website.
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