Wednesfield Dance Club Celebrates 40th Birthday with Donation to Air Ambulance
Long Knowle Monday Tea Dance donates £150 to Midland Air Ambulance while keeping community moving.
A veteran dance group at Long Knowle Community Centre sees dancers gather every Monday to keep fit and active, as well as raise money to support charity.
The group, celebrating their 40th birthday, marked the occasion with a £150 donation raised by the dancers to the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, supporting their life changing work.
Many dancers have been coming to the Monday Tea Dance, including Catherine Hodges, the longest serving dancer at the club.
Speaking to the dancers, they described it as “a place where you feel welcomed. There’s a family feel where everyone supports eachother, and a brilliant atmosphere”
“It’s a wonderful social afternoon, with great music to dance to, as well as coffee and cake”
Kay Starkey, West Midlands Fundraising Executive for Midlands Air Ambulance said: “We are super grateful to the dance group for raising £150 for us today as a charity. We need in excess of £16m every year to continue our life saving service, and we can only do that with the help of the public”
She continued: “We don’t get any help for our daily missions, not from the lottery, NHS, or government funding. So it is the local community and businesses that continue to support us to attend to at least 12 people every single day, and four and a half thousand people every year who need our life saving service”
Geoffrey Taylor said “I’ve been dancing here for 25 years. We’ve raised £150 for the Midlands Air Ambulance. We did a group afternoon dinner and dance at the goodyears, raising £80, then managed to raise another £45 using the collection box”
“The club’s been going for 40 years, and we want to see many more”
Cllrs Steve Evans and Chris Burden added: “We have seen the fantastic work that Geoff, James, and all the dancers do every Monday, and it was an honour to join them to hand over the cheque to the Midlands Air Ambulance. The dancers and the charity do fantastic work, and long may it continue”
Cllr Evans added “I remember joining the Tea Dance at their 25th Anniversary! Time really does fly!”
The Long Knowle Tea Dance meet Monday afternoons at 14:00-16:00 at the Long Knowle Community Hub, Wood End Road, as well as taking trips to Llandudno, and Blackpool for special occasions
To find out more information about the clubs and meet-ups at Long Knowle, see below: