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Caroline Jones (fundraiser)

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Caroline Jones
Headshot of Jones speaking into a microphone against a blue background
Jones in 2019
Born1968 (age 57–58)
Chester, Cheshire, England
OccupationDesign agency
Known forRaising money for Cancer Research UK after the death of her mother

Caroline Jones (born 1968) is an English charity fundraiser from Chester, Cheshire. She started volunteering for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) as a window dresser in Harpenden, Hertfordshire shortly after her mother died of breast cancer in 2014. She received a "Pioneer of the Year" accolade from CRUK's Flame of Hope and a Points of Light award in 2015 for her work wearing different second-hand clothes every day of that year. She originally projected to raise £1,000, but actually raised £43,500 in 2015. She also established Knickers Model's Own that year to commemorate her mother's death. She repeated the charity shop challenge ten years later in 2025.

Life

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Caroline Jones was born in Chester, Cheshire, in 1968.[1] She has three children. Jones started volunteering in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, at a Cancer Research UK (CRUK) charity shop as a window dresser (where she arranged donations shown on display windows) shortly after her mother Mary Benson, aged 72, died of breast cancer in October 2014.[2][3] At the time of her death, Benson had been a CRUK volunteer for thirteen years.[4] Jones established Knickers Model's Own in 2015 to commemorate her mother's death and to financially support CRUK.[1][5] The name signifies that she still buys new knickers (a type of women's underwear).[4] Other than that, she rarely buys new clothes.[5]

She also launched her coffee table book, Knickers Model's Own: charting a year of frugal fashion, on 25 May 2016. The book features a cover shot from Rankin, one of the greatest fashion photographers.[6]

In January 2024, JustGiving partnered with Jones and hosted a fundraising-focused podcast, titled What Have I Done?[7][8] The podcast features ten episodes from each of the ten interviewees including herself and Leah Chowdhry, the first British Asian woman to swim across the English Channel.[7][8] As of August 2025, she worked for a design agency.[1]

Fundraising

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Charity shop challenge (2015)

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Between 1 January and 31 December 2015, she posted pictures of herself wearing a different second-hand charity clothes every day on social media to raise money for Cancer Research UK.[9][10] She had an idea about the challenge on New Years Eve in 2014.[3] She initially projected to raise £1,000 in a year. However, it went well over her expectations. Therefore, she raised the target to £36,500 (equal to £100 per day) in June 2015 after earning over £11,000 in the first five months.[11] She raised just over £2,600 on 4 November 2015, after a one-off event in Harpenden Public Halls, where she put approximately a thousand items on sale.[12] In the end, she raised more than £43,500 in 2015, £7,000 over her June predictions.[3]

During her 2015 challenge on 16 June, she received a "Pioneer of the Year" accolade from CRUK's Flame of Hope award, where "it came as a real shock" to her.[11] At the end of 2015, she received a Points of Light award from then prime minister David Cameron for her charity shop challenge. He said that "Caroline has come up with an innovative way to pay tribute to her mother and raise a fantastic amount of money for charity". In addition to raising money for CRUK, "Caroline has [also] helped raise awareness of the benefits of shopping in charity shops and that with a little styling outfits can be ethical and fashionable"[3][13] She responded to the award saying it was "a huge honour", which was "a wonderful way to end [...] the hardest and the most rewarding year of my life".[13] As of March 2016, she raised £56,000.[6]

Charity shop challenge repeat (2025)

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Jones restarted the charity shop challenge a decade later in 2025. This time, she posted new pictures with the corresponding one from 2015.[14] At the start of 2025, she raised approximately £70,000,[15] including from her book, A Year of Frugal Fashion.[16] She was invited to a Buckingham Palace reception for cancer charities on 30 April 2025 for her fundraising support and met the King while wearing an £8.50 dress.[4][1] She said that the 2025 version was a "year of joy".[14] A CRUK shop in Harpenden where Jones volunteered was "voted the best in the East of England by customers".[17] The customers "praised its friendly staff, community events and 'constantly updated stock'."[17]

American Hollywood star Courteney Cox has gifted Jones an Yves Saint Laurent bag in late 2025. Cox said that she finds the fundraising campaign "incredible" and "would like to be a part of it".[18]

Awards

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Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
2015 Pioneer of the Year Flame of Hope Cancer Research UK Won [11]
2015 Points of Light Charity shop challenge Cancer Research UK Won [13]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Hoggard, Liz (11 July 2025). "'I wore an £8.50 dress to meet the King'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 August 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  2. ↑ Cocozza, Paula (21 February 2015). "My fashion tribute to my mother". The Guardian.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Knickers Model's Own: Year of charity clothes goes 'out with a bang'". BBC News. 31 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2026. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Charity shopper's £22.50 outfit for Buckingham Palace trip". BBC News. 3 May 2025. Archived from the original on 8 January 2026. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Knickers Model's Own: Charity shop challenge returns 10 years on". BBC News. 1 January 2025.
  6. 1 2 Woods, Judith (6 March 2016). "Caroline Jones: How my style blog tribute to Mum went viral". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 "What Have I Done?: JustGiving partners with award-winning fundraiser Caroline Jones to launch first of its kind fundraising podcast". JustGiving. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Knickers Model's Own founder's new podcast highlighting stories of extraordinary charity fundraisers". St Albans Times. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Meade, Aimee (27 February 2015). "Public prefer charity shops to eBay and Gumtree, study shows". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  10. ↑ Isaac, Anna (21 December 2015). "Knickers Model's Own: a testament to solo fundraising". The Guardian.
  11. 1 2 3 "Harpenden woman's year of wearing charity shop outfits raises £11K". Herts Advertiser. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "Knickers Model's Own: 'Year of charity clothes' sold". BBC News. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 McBride, Jake (31 December 2015). "Charity shop challenge". Points of Light. Archived from the original on 14 December 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  14. 1 2 "King Charles and Courteney Cox among highlights for fashion challenge". BBC News. 31 December 2025. Archived from the original on 31 December 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  15. ↑ "Charity shop worker aims to wear 365 different pre-loved outfits over the course of 2025". ITV. 7 January 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Knickers Model's Own: Wearing charity clothes changed my life". BBC News. 31 December 2024. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Harpenden charity shop named best in the East of England". BBC News. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2026. [link to East of England added]
  18. ↑ "Friends star Courteney Cox donates bag to Harpenden campaigner". BBC News. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
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