Best foot forward for charity fundraisers

Weekly line dancers from across the county have raised an amazing £15,000 over the past 12 months, which has been presented to the Midlands Air Ambulance at a social evening held at The Comrades Club, Ellesmere.

The fundraisers are all regular attendees of Dance with Sandra classes, which are held at venues including Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Wattlesborough and Ellesmere and run by Sandra Speck, of Harmer Hill, near Shrewsbury.

The money was raised over a 12-month period through a sponsored ‘dance a mile’ event held at classes throughout one week in March and an all day charity event with over 250 dancers held at Wrexham in April, together with weekly raffles and many donations.

Sandra Speck, said: “We have raised money for various charities over the years but I was inspired to raise funds for the Midlands Air Ambulance after club member Sheila Barnes, of Llanfair Caereinion, was injured in a road traffic accident nine years ago and wouldn’t be here today if she hadn’t been lucky enough to be rescued by the helicopter and taken to hospital so quickly.

“My thanks go to the dancers themselves who create such a great fun and friendly atmosphere at our weekly sessions and who tirelessly work to promote fundraising ideas and also give so generously themselves to this charity, which provides such essential support to the whole region.”

Receiving a cheque for exactly £15,580.39 was Shropshire fundraiser for the MAA, Maria Jones, who added: “Every year we simply say …Wow! As this is an absolutely amazing amount of money to have been raised in such a short time by a relatively small group and brings the overall total donated by Sandra and her dancers to nearly £85,000 over the past nine years.

“The Air Ambulance costs over £7 million each year to keep running, and has saved so many lives by saving time with quick reactive response to incidents. However, with no government or lottery funding, the MAA relies totally on donations such as these and this amount is simply fantastic.”