The Daily Telegraph du lieu suivant : London, Greater London, England • 204

Fresh perspective After almost two decades in front of the camera as a successful model, Saffron Aldridge has moved on from her old life to launch a charity to help children. By Christa D'Souza. Portrait by Julian Broad The last time Saffron Aldridge and I saw each other was the morning after the triumphant charity dinner she organised a few months ago at Sotheby's in London. Focused on a project called Through the Eyes of a Child, and featuring an exhibition made up entirely of children's photographs, the evening was. even by the most jaded Londoner's standards.

an extraordinarily stylish affair. Hugh Grant came. Gwyneth Paltrow came, and so did the progeny of David Bailey. Jay Jopling and Sting, dressed up as paparazzi in mini Burberry macs. Cosmopolitan cocktails flowed, the bangers and mash from the catering company Rhubarb were delicious and the hugely entertaining auction raised no less than £60,000.

Then there was Aldridge herself in a red beaded halterneck dress and hair extensions cascading demurely down her ivory shoulders, looking so exquisite, so perfect. that there seemed to be a kind of halo around her head as she stepped on to the podium with a crumpled bit of paper in hand. The segue from life as a supermodel to charity work is not exactly an original one, but somehow this former poster girl from Ralph Lauren had done it with such style and panache that one could not help wondering rather wistfully how universally pockets would be plumbed if every charity could have her as its figurehead. Four months later we meet again at the large west London home into which she, her fiance Rob and her two sons by previous relationships have just moved. 'I was so incredibly hungover the day after that she confesses, leading the way down into the hi-tech open-plan kitchen in a pair of hipster jeans and beaded sandals.

'I didn't drink a thing until after I gave that stupid speech. And then I drank every single glass of red wine on the table. But really, I'm surprised I made any sense at Well, she did make sense. Crystal clear, in fact. I am not in the least surprised to hear that Through the Eyes of a Child has gone 085 from strength to strength since the Sotheby's dinner.

Then, the concept of giving children JULIE 3 cameras and exhibiting what they produced had MANE been limited to 200 youngsters in the UK. Now the idea has gone global. with Virgin becoming the project's main sponsor, Canon donating 1,000 cameras worldwide for a competition (Aldridge and Richard Branson spent a day at Heathrow 46 TELEGRAPH MAGAZINE last month personally handing out cameras to every child boarding a Virgin flight), a second exhibition at Sotheby's planned for next April and even talk of a lavish coffee-table book for Christmas 2002. 'I'd like to. say, get Taschen Aldridge says.

first little book we did tie in with the Sotheby's was sweet but it was so small and was put together in such a hurry. We could make the next one look really cool. I mean. just imagine. Supposing Trudie Styler, who I hope is going to be a committee member for another year.

arranges for a child from her Rainforest Foundation to get one of those cameras? Supposing Hugh Grant agrees to be a committee member and we get one of the children to photograph him? All these stars usually hate being photographed by the press. but with children they tend to let their guard down. The possibilities are endless. The idea for Through the Eyes of a Child first presented itself. as Aldridge explains in her slightly 'norf London' accent, in January 1998 after she had been shuffling through some holiday snaps that her elder son, Milo.

now seven, had taken with her camera. Soon afterwards she had a drink with her former model booker, the photographer's agent Kevin Kollenda. in the Met Bar. 'It was one of those sloppy evenings when we were sitting around telling each other how lucky we both were and how we really ought to give something Aldridge recalls. 'and we came up with this idea of raising money by having an exhibition of children's By the summer of 1999 Aldridge had persuaded Canon to give her 200 Snappy LX II cameras and, with the help of a committee that included Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, actress Joely Richardson and Trudie Styler, she sent them all over the country to children aged between three and 12.

Each camera was loaded with film and there were strict instructions to grown-ups not to help. From November until the following March the cameras steadily streamed back. Thrilled with the results, Aldridge then approached Sotheby's. which agreed to host the exhibition and the charity bash, with proceeds going to the NSPCC children, in effect, helping children. By this time Aldridge had come to the end of her second four-year contract with Ralph Lauren,.