Strictly Fun Dancing for Weston Hospicecare is our brand new event for 2018, and the Grand Finale on March 24th at The Winter Gardens promises to be a glittering, glamorous affair. Following eight weeks of professional dance training thanks to Burning Salsa, our 12 couples will take to the floor, and the first ever winners of Strictly Fun Dancing will be decided from a public and judges vote.
The evening itself will be hosted by TV’s Martin Roberts, best known for presenting Homes Under the Hammer. The event is already sold out, but you can still get involved; keep an eye on our social media and support our couples by attending one of their fundraising events. You can also follow along with their training journey’s via our website, Facebook page, and in the Mercury.
Without further ado, let’s meet the stars of our show….
Ben is a dance teacher at Burning Salsa in Burnham, and has kindly taken on the task of training all our couples, with assistance from his partner, Ali.
Ben: “It’s going to be amazing teaching these couples for the next 8 weeks, I am really looking forward to it. It will be a great challenge for all of us and we’re going to have lots of fun.”
Ali: “I’m so happy I have the opportunity to dance with such a lovely bunch of people. What these guys are doing is absolutely awesome; raising all this money for the hospice in the most fun way I can think of! It’s fantastic.”
Liz presents Points West for the BBC, and she and her husband Miles are big fans of Strictly: “When people you love are very sick, it becomes clear how valuable respite and end of life care can be. We can’t wait to try and help the hospice. It’s the closest we’re ever going to get to Strictly and Miles’s efforts have already had us in stitches….”
Sarah and Anita are friends from Weston, and are both keen members of Sweet Result Fitness. They are proud to be representing SRF at Strictly Fun Dancing: “Since joining Fitstep classes run by Sweet Result Fitness (SRF), we have both fallen back in love with dance. Not only does it keep you fit, it is fun and a great place to meet new people. We were actively encouraged to enter by Mark Sweeting and Carol Hartley from SRF to step up to the challenge. We hope to do the SRF team proud and be a positive influence in encouraging others to take up dance. Being part of the Strictly Fun Dancing event is not only a great chance to learn from a professional, but also a great opportunity to raise money for a very worthy charity. Hospice care is close to both of our hearts. It has helped and supported both our families through some dark times, so this is our chance to give something back”
Tracey and Wilber have personal experience of the work at Weston Hospicecare: “We’re taking part in Strictly because we absolutely love it on the TV and it’s such a great opportunity to raise money for such a worthy cause. My step-dad received end-of-life care at the hospice, after being diagnosed with liver cancer 12 years ago and their support was invaluable.
Sarah works at Weston Hospicecare, and has the support and encouragement from all the staff and patients: “Sarah works at Weston Hospicecare running their Expressive Movement Therapy group, which enables terminally ill people to express themselves and share through gentle movement, music and creativity. She and her husband John want to raise money for the wonderful work of the hospice and to share the joy that dancing can bring.
Lynn and Mark own Ajenta Interiors in Winscombe and are keen to support the community: “Mark and I are in good health but sadly some people are not, we saw an opportunity to raise money and awareness by doing something we love in a fun and entertaining way that will ultimately benefit our local community.”
Hilary and Chris have both volunteered for Weston Hospicecare, a charity that means a lot to them:
“The Hospice has been there for both of us, and we met doing voluntary work.
So we jumped at the chance to learn dancing, to Fox Trot, to Cha Cha, to Twerk!!
We will love doing Strictly Fun Dancing, and strut our stuff on the dance floor.
Raise lots of cash for the Hospice, and win the Glitter Ball…….need we say more.”
Michelle and Tim have personal experience of Weston Hospicecare, and are looking forward to raising money for the charity in order to give something back: “We have an unfortunately strong history of BRCA2 gene anomaly running through our family, with several members having had some form of cancer or sadly passed away. Because of this our family has had the need to use the amazing services provided by the hospice on several occasions, so this is a perfect opportunity for us to raise some much needed funding for truly remarkable and compassionate organisation.”
Brad and Jen from Weston-super-Mare are excited to be one of our dancing couples: “We are taking part in this event to spend time together doing something we enjoy, and to challenge ourselves, whilst raising money for a brilliant local charity.”
Lois and Lee understand how important the hospice is to the local community and are more than happy to support the charity: “Along with the fabulous opportunity to learn how to dance, we could not have chosen a better charity to support. I sadly lost my mum 6 months ago with Bowel cancer and although she did not need the services from the hospice because we managed to nurse her at home, we also know how much support they give to others; the care these special people and places supply are incredible.”
Ed and Joanna are thrilled to be able to raise money for a local charity by dancing in the brand new event: “After a few words of encouraged from our dance group we decided to give it a shot. We thought: “Why not, it will be a thrill to dance in front of an audience and moreover it’s for a good cause.””
Dan and Michelle work together at BWOC, the main sponsor of Strictly Fun Dancing: “We’re excited to be taking part and nervous at the same time! It’s for a great cause, so we’re going to improve our dance skills while raising money for charity.”
Tara and Dan also work together at BWOC and are looking forward to taking on a new challenge: “There’s lots of mixed emotions, including excitement and terror! But in general we’re looking forward to taking part. At the end of the day it’s for a great cause and so we’re going to give it our all.”
We can’t wait to see all our couples in action! They’re already working hard in training, and looking good. Anyone who’s lucky enough to have tickets for the Grand Finale is in for a real treat!
Click here to support our A MINUTE A MONTH campaign.
Thank you so much for supporting your hospice!
All donations, big or small, are vital and provide compassionate end of life care to local people.
Making a donation is easy and secure, just fill in the form below.