A New Year feast of fashion won’t just make the perfect taster for 2026; attendees will also be doing their bit to change people’s lives in one of the poorest corners of Africa.

The i4Life fundraising fashion show will take place in the Anglers Rest Hotel, Headford, on February 13, bringing the local community together in support of a powerful cause – to raise much-needed funds for i4Life and its life-changing health initiatives in Zambia.

Hosted by Mandy Maher and her Catwalk Agency, the event will showcase creativity, style and generosity, with attendees uniting to support i4Life’s mission to improve access to quality primary health care and to build a healthier future for children in low-resource communities.

Established in 2009, i4Life is a non-profit organisation, working among the marginalised communities in Lusaka. Set up by a group of health professionals from Galway, the plan from the start has been to help toddlers to thrive on the other side of the world – thanks to their own efforts, topped up with state funding.

Maura Moran is the co-founder and voluntary director of i4Life, which works in close partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Health to deliver sustainable and effective Primary Health Care (PHC) in Linda Compound, a large peri-urban township in Lusaka.

Linda is a very disadvantaged township close to the city of Livingstone, around 30km south of Lusaka – and i4Life, in partnership with the local Ministry of Health, delivers sustainable primary healthcare to the community in the Linda Compound.

The Primary Health Centre in Linda serves over 3,000 patients each month, including a significant number of children – and, according to Maura Moran, access to clean water and reliable electricity is crucial to enhancing the quality of care they receive.

“i4Life is entirely staffed by volunteers who give generously of their time to organise and travel to Zambia to work for week-long stints, up to three times per year,” added Maura.

Caption: RTÉ’s Teresa Mannion helping to launch the i4 life Fashion Show with (from left) Committee member Marie Heneghan of the Anglers Rest Hotel, Headford, which is hosting the event; fellow Committee member Naomi King, and i4Life Voluntary Director Maura Moran.

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