1st March 2008

My name is Maria Williams and I set up Grooves Freestyle Dance Club in January 2003. Every year the dancers at Grooves perform a “Sponsored Groove” to raise money for a worth while charity. Towards the end of 2007, one of the parents of a pupil asked if she could nominate CRY as our charity for 2008.

Her friend lost her 8 year old son, Charlie, in May of last year and his family had set up a Memorial Fund in Charlie’s name to help CRY in their mission. I didn’t hesitate to accept.

We had all read Charlie’s story in the local papers and it was an honour to contribute to his memorial fund. If one child could be saved due to a rise in awareness and a further injection of funds, then that would be a fantastic contribution to society.

On Saturday, 1st March, 31 pupils at Grooves plus Hannah Holmes, the parent who nominated CRY, danced to a variety of tracks in front of a hall full of supporters. Some of the dancers were only 2 years old!

We had a “heart” themed raffle and donations were given for refreshments. Charlie’s family did us the honour of coming along to support the event and the local press reported on it.

We are proud to announce that we raised £1,295 and hope to add to this at our performances and events throughout this year.

Maria Williams – Principal