Derbyshire school holds charity danceathon

The St Thomas' danceathon

An all day danceathon at St Thomas' Catholic Voluntary Academy in Ilkeston has raised £1,450 for charity.

Every child at the school took part in the sponsored event which saw Clubbercize instructor Lyndsey Ford, who is a teacher at St Thomas', taking a class at a time into the hall and leading a dance exercise session.

She said: "It's just wonderful seeing the children enjoy exercising. They all put 100% effort in and it was just so heart-warming to be dancing and singing with them all. Bring on the next danceathon!"

Clubbercize is a fun, full body workout for all fitness levels which is set to club anthems, from 90s dance tunes to the latest hits, with party lights and glow sticks.

Money raised from the event will go to support a community in Malawi, following an appeal at a local church.

Pupil Lillia, 10, said: "We have got lots of people to sponsor us, all of our family and friends. My younger sister has raised £13. I like dancing so I really enjoyed taking part in this."

"I go to a lot of discos when I go on holiday and I like dancing. The dance sessions really got our blood pumping and they had a real positive vibe," said pupil Harrison, 11.

Pupil Jarvis, 10, said: "We danced for about 30 minutes and it was great to be doing something fun which will also help children in Malawi. I'd love to do something like this every week."

"It was so exciting and it was like a fun way of doing exercise. I felt like it helped me to focus more in lessons after the session too and we got to wear colourful clothes," said pupil Maja, 10.

Michael Sellors, Headteacher at St Thomas', said: "As a school we have really supported local charities in recent months, so we wanted to help an international cause this Advent. There was an appeal at our local church recently to help support a community in Malawi and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to help out through the children getting sponsored. The children have loved coming to school in brightly coloured clothes and taking part in the high energy dancing and hopefully we have raised some money to help those in need in Malawi."

Sponsorship money will be donated to a charity called Network for a Better World, a lay missionary group which works to relieve poverty, with specific support for women and children, in a rural mission parish in Southern Malawi.

LINK

St Thomas' Catholic Voluntary Academy in Ilkeston: www.stthomasilkeston.srscmat.co.uk/