Shropshire lawyer dances the night away to raise charity cash

A Shropshire lawyer danced the night away at a Strictly Come Dancing style event -  with the efforts of everyone involved on the night raising an amazing £30,000 for Hope House Hospice.

Michelle Simmonds, of Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors, took to the dancefloor for Strictly Shropshire 2022 at the Lion Quays near Oswestry dressed as Little Bo Peep, while her dance partner was made up as Woody from Toy Story.

Local dance school Dance HQ hosted the Strictly Come Dancing themed charity event in aid of Hope House Hospice, with 12 beginner dancers being given seven hours of training to perform one dance with their professional partner in front of the audience and an expert panel of judges.

Michelle, a lawyer in Lanyon Bowdler’s private client team based in Oswestry, battled it out in the face of tough competition in a bid to be one of the three couples chosen by the audience to progress to the dreaded dance-off, with the winner then being chosen by the judges and crowned Strictly Shropshire 2022 Champion.

“What a night! It was a marvellous experience and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy it,” Michelle said. “It was great fun although I was a little apprehensive before we took to the floor as I have never danced ballroom before.

“But it went ok and we were pleased to get through the routine without any embarrassing mishaps.

“The whole point of the evening of course was to raise funds for Hope House and it is incredible to think that the evening raised so much money for such a wonderful cause.

“I enjoyed the training and the experience of dancing in front of an audience and would certainly like to do more ballroom dancing in the future.”

Lynsey Kilvert, Fundraising Team Leader at Hope House Hospice, said: “We were thrilled to see Strictly Shropshire back in 2022 after a two-year break due to Covid and are so  grateful to everyone involved for putting on such an incredible event.

“Special thanks go to our dancers who not only worked so hard in training to put on a wonderful show, they also worked tirelessly to raise monies to ensure that Hope House will be there for seriously ill local children and families who need us.

“Michelle looked gorgeous as Little Bo Peep and she did a fabulous Foxtrot!”