Sixteen local people have spent the last sixteen weeks learning to dance with the Eileen Spracklen School of Dance, to fundraise for Weldmar Hospicecare, enabling the charity to continue to provide specialist care for adults in Dorset who have a life limiting illness, and support for their loved ones.
Glitz, glamour and glitterball trophies were all part of the show that the amateur dancers put on for Weldmar’s Strictly Ballroom at Weymouth Pavilion on Friday night. The eight couples donned their sequins and entertained the crowds raising an impressive £42,000 for the charity.
Weldmar’s Chief Operating Officer, and host for the evening, Matt Smith, was blown away by the total raised, “What an incredible night, and an amazing amount of money raised. The participants have all put their heart and soul into making the event and their fundraising a success, and have embodied Weldmar’s values, supporting each other along the way.”
“This is a record Strictly Ballroom for us and means that we have raised a total of over £125,000 since our first Strictly event in 2013.”
The audience were also entertained with dance performances from The Studio and Evolution Dance. After the judges scores were added to the votes cast by the audience, Dawn Woodbury and Ian Winsor were announced as the Strictly Ballroom 2023 Champions. Dawn enjoyed the whole experience, and said, “Everyone did really well, everyone was so different. We’ve all been having such a great time in the green room, everyone has been cheering each other on. It’s been a fab evening, I would recommend it to anyone.”
Weldmar Hospicecare thanks all the participants and their supporters, Eileen & Gemma from the Eileen Spracklen School of Dancing, the judges Lou Sams, Emilie Hardy and Jason Edwards, and Emily from Lotus Photography for their help in making the show a success.
Strictly Ballroom winners Ian Winsor and Dawn Woodbury
Strictly Ballroom 2023 participants