A care home hosted a Strictly event to raise £2K to fight loneliness. It made £14K
Fun-loving carers at a British retirement home have raised more than £14,000 for charity by hosting their own Strictly Come Dancing-style event.
Staff from the McCarthy Stone Retirement Living Plus development in Gloucester put on their dancing shoes to raise funds for the McCarthy Stone Foundation, with the money raised going towards reducing isolation and loneliness among older people.
Seven of the home's dedicated staff, none of who had previous dance experience, were paired with professional dancers and trained for eight weeks before hitting the dance floor to compete for the Glitterball trophy in Strictly-style grand final.
Marie Bird, 48, emerged as the eventual winner with partner, James Hall, performing a heel-flicking, jive to You Can't Stop the Beat from the musical Hairspray. Despite the fact that she'd hardly danced before, Marie has now caught the bug and has joined a local group to continue with the hobby.
"It was fun - so, so much fun," Marie, an administrator at the home says of the experience. "I was genuinely terrified of falling flat on my face during my jive. But the thrill of actually getting the steps right (sometimes) threw me off guard. There was lots of twists and kicks and fancy footwork that I didn’t even know I was capable of, but [my partner] James was confident that I could do it – so I did!"
Marie says she feels grateful to have shared the "tremendous" experience with her colleagues and also ticked it off her bucket list. "If you get the opportunity to do something similar – do it!" she urges. "You have to."
The event, called Strictly Come Llanthony, was the brainchild of Mathew Daniels, estate manager at Llanthony Place, who played co-host at the night, which took place at the end of September.
Lee Mainza, Llanthony Place duty manager, and Lydia Hall took second place with their salsa, closely followed by Emily Cook, Nicole Mason and Megan Thompkins who were joint third.
As well as their individual dances all the couples, who trained for an hour a week over a period of two months, also danced together, doing a foxtrot to All That Jazz from the musical Chicago.
The original fundraising target of £2,000 was quickly surpassed, with more than £5,750 raised a week prior to the event. McCarthy Stone then matched the sum, taking the total to more than £14,000, with donations still being made via JustGiving.
Commenting on the feel-good event Fiona Docherty, managing director and McCarthy Stone Foundation trustee said: “The happiness and welfare of older people is at the heart of everything we do. Therefore, we are beyond delighted, in partnership with Llanthony Secunda Priory, DanceStars Gloucester, and lead sponsors Badminton Developments, to have raised more than £14,100 for the McCarthy Stone Foundation."
The foundation says it supports grassroots and volunteer-led charitable causes that bring connection, engagement, and purpose to older people.
"The Strictly Come Llanthony event was a huge success and it was a pleasure to welcome guests from across Gloucestershire to witness this fantastic occasion and spread the community spirit," Docherty adds.
Additional reporting SWNS.
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