Earlier this week, two schoolgirls, dressed in Edwardian clothing, buttonholed David Cameron on the steps of Number Ten.  They sold him a rose, continuing a tradition that has run for nearly a hundred years – since 1912 when Queen Alexandra started the Charities’ Charity by selling a rose to the Prime Minister of the day, who put it in his buttonhole.

The two 16-year-olds attend Francis Holland School sixth form, and were chosen for their exceptional charity work – both have been both volunteers and fundraisers for charities while studying at the school. They wore the traditional white dresses, pink sashes and straw boaters that have been the hallmark of the Charities’ Charity since it was set up by the Queen to sell silk roses, made by London flower girls to raise funds for her preferred causes. Today the recipient gets a rose pin made of enamel and Alexandra Rose Charities help  more than 250 other charities, many of which are very small and local.

The Charities’ Charity may have been one of the first to use specialist clothing to raise funds, but today nearly every charity with a national profile has charity-branded clothing such as slogan printed T-shirts, hats with embroidered logos or even ‘gimmick’ clothing like Pudsey Bear’s spotty bandana.