Hello there!!

You might recognise me as one of the Dance Base staff members who signs you in for all of your amazing classes and now I’m popping up in your newsletter to tell you about the fundraising challenge I’m going to be hosting in support of Dance Base and Dig Deep. From the 20th - 24th March I will be “ditching the day job” (literally) and challenging myself to take part in 35-40 hours of Dance Base classes in just 5 days… my muscles already hurt just thinking about it!

Why am I doing this?

I’m taking on this exhausting challenge to raise money for two charities close to my heart. The first is Dance Base; an organisation which we all know and love that has supported me personally for so many years, and in light of the recent news I wanted to find a way to connect the whole community through a fun dance challenge that gets me out from behind the desk and into the studios with all of you. The second charity is Dig Deep (https://www.digdeep.org.uk/), a charity who supplies clean water, hygiene facilities and menstruation education to some of the poorest residents in Kenya. In 2020, I recklessly signed myself up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (the tallest freestanding mountain in the world) to raise funds for this charity. During the pandemic it became clear to me just how lucky we are to have such easy access to sanitary items like hand sanitiser, soaps, and clean water. My trip is now set to go ahead in August 2023 after two years of cancellations, and the money raised during this fundraiser will help towards my £2950 fundraising goal that I’ve been working towards over the past 2 years. This is something I’ll be speaking a lot about over the course of the week as on the Wednesday of my challenge (22nd March) it is World Water Day!

How can you get involved?

During the week I will be asking for sponsorship and donations from you as I attend a number of new and familiar dance styles, some of which I might look quite foolish doing. Please remember that no amount is too small, if all you can give is £1 or £2 that's okay! All of your donations will be split equally between the two charities and help towards the event's fundraising goal of £1000 (£500 for each charity). If you aren’t currently in the position to donate you can also support this challenge by coming along to a Dance Base class that week to dance with me as I’ll need all the moral support I can get! Maybe this is the perfect opportunity for you to try out a new style too as you might not be the only newbie there!

Questions or Ideas?

If you have any questions about this fundraising event or want to get involved too by setting yourself a dance challenge and asking your friends/family to sponsor you please get in touch with me directly at melissa.heywood@dancebase.co.uk and I will do my best to support you.

(A full timetable of all the classes I will be attending between the 20th - 24th March will be released at a future date - See you there!)