Dancing to the foundation beat

A glitter ball dance event at Kelham Hall and Country Park raised more than £10,000 for the Rosie May Foundation.

The Strictly Come Dancing-type event was won by the head of Highfields School, Newark, Mr Richard Thomson, and his wife, Mel.

They were among eight couples, many of whom had never danced before, who were trained free of charge for the competition by Lilac Theatre Dance. They learnt a waltz and a paso doble in six sessions.

Mr Thomson said the school started to support the foundation when year six pupils asked for it to be their charity of the year.

“The journey ended with a night of dance and laughter, and lots of money was raised for an amazing cause,” he said.

“My wife and I had the most incredible experience, learning to dance while at the same time supporting an extremely worthy charity that is local and yet reaches out internationally.”

The evening was compered by charity patron Geeta Pendse and its founder and director, Mary Storrie.

She and her husband, Graham, set up the charity, now based in Bingham, after the murder of their daughter, Rosie May, of Bottesford, in 2003.

The top fundraisers at the ball were Hannah and Robbie Gemmill, who raised more than £1,000.

Money raised will be used for the charity’s latest project — to train single mothers living below the poverty line in Sri Lanka to drive a pink tuk-tuk.