Top model teams up with Doncaster community project to inspire young people

Doncaster born model Sam Rollinson has teamed up with Doncaster Community Arts, or Darts, as their new Young People's Ambassador, to engage young people in the Dart's programmes of work.

The 23-year-old is unlike any other, having been scouted when she was just 13 to become a model during a trip to Clothes Show Live at the NEC Birmingham with her mum and signed to Select Model Management.

She was destined to be a model, as just a few years later whilst shopping in Doncaster Frenchgate, Rollinson was scouted again, she said: "It was funny. I had to just tell them that I was already a model!"

She has since has appeared on the front cover of famous publications such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and has modelled for brands including Burberry, Dior and Chanel.

As a young successful person from Doncaster, the leaders of Darts hope that she will provide other young people of Doncaster with a positive role model.

Rollinson will be working with the team to deliver their programmes which inspire learning, build good emotional health and strengthen professional practice for people of all ages who live, work or learn in Doncaster.

According to the Child Taking Part Survey by the DCMS in 2014, almost all children under the age of 16 engage with arts and culture in some way, and though arts participation rate among children and young people has improved in recent years, on average the engagement rate begins to decrease in the 11 to15 age group.

Previous studies have shown that Doncaster has a particularly low rate of engagement among adults; within the last decade, statistics from the Active People Arts Survey 2008-2010 have shown that Doncaster ranked eighth from the bottom nationally, and bottom of the table regionally.

To combat this and get the young people of Doncaster engaged, Darts provides various creative opportunities for young people including evening art clubs exploring a range of mediums such as photography and sculpture, family workshops and singing groups.

Rollinson will be involved with Darts’ work in a variety of ways, from online support to visiting Darts’ home, The Point, in person.

Through her profile she will assist in the promotion of Darts’ work and raise awareness of the charity to a new audience.

She is a former Hall Cross pupil and after completing her A-levels, at age she 18 moved down to London to pursue modelling full-time.

But the model still has a soft spot in her heart for Yorkshire and in particular her home town of Doncaster, and is a self confessed 'Ambassador for Yorkshire Tea', albeit unofficially.

She said: "Doncaster was a really nice place to grow up, but I wouldn't say it was all that fashionable.

"Most of my childhood was spent dancing with my friends as I was part of The Riley School of Dance so we always used to hang out at weekends and go to dance competitions.

"I like coming back home, because my friends now have been to University and they've got jobs, whereas all my friends in London are all models so it's different. I like to still come home and see them sometimes if they're back.

"I've been modelling for so long now, obviously it's not a normal job for most people but for me it is.

"My mum and dad get the magazines I'm in all the time, if my mates are in a shop they always send me pictures. My family and friends find it normal now.

But there is nothing she likes more than coming back to the town, to get away from the her busy day-to-day life living and working in London: "It's just nice to go to your parents house and put your comfy clothes on, have a cuppa and watch Coronation Street. "

Of her new role as Young People’s Ambassador, Rollinson added: “When they reached out to me I was over the moon, I’m very proud of being from Doncaster and if I can do anything to help the young people from there then I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.”