Caerphilly entrepreneurs from Welsh ICE are swapping their desks for the dance floor and will be performing two dances in front of an audience of 450 at the the SSE Swalec Stadium in Cardiff on May 13th.
Two formation teams will be comprised entirely of ICE members with eight teams of eight in total, meaning there will be a staggering 64 non-professionals taking part from local businesses and organisations.
Each team hopes to raise £3000 each, making this the most ambitious Strictly Top Dancer event yet. All money raised will go straight to The Breast Centre, a charity in Llandough Hospital which provides dedicated space for all patients with any kind of breast problems giving them access to a fantastic team of dedicated doctors, nurses and surgeons all in one place meaning they can provide a totally integrated service for patients.
The event aims to raise £25,000 in total through team sponsorship, raffles and auctions and between them, teams have already raised a £18,000!
Seven ICE members -plus one honorary member- make up Team Stars in Your ICE.
Community Manager, Jamie McGowan, our resident Wizard, Huw Williams, Alison Lavelle of Simplicity Training, Sara Jones of One Eyed Cat, Ollie Page of Page Promotions, Rheinallt Williams of ExCaelo Aerial Imaging, Paula Massey of UMAT and Helen Rudge.
Alison is excited for the upcoming dance competition and said:
“We are all so excited for the event now. The routine is all finished and we have all had the privilege of dancing with some amazing people and having fantastic teachers. This started out as 8 people who had never danced together before and now we have gelled as such a team, it is incredible. Roll on the 13th, we are going to smash this and raise shed loads of money in the process.”
Meanwhile Laura Davies, Rachel Harris, Becky Parry and Becky Weston from Wize Virtual Admin, have teamed up with fellow ICE members Briony Mogg, Gareth Mogg, Graham Mogg and Steve Mogg from WRi to create team WRize (Double-You-Are-Eyes, an amalgamation of their business names).
Wize have been an active supporter of The Breast Centre for years and are organising the dancing event for the fourth year in a row.
Chief of Operations at ICE and founder of Wize Virtual Admin, Mandy Weston, is a breast cancer survivor of thirteen years and the patient representative at The Breast Centre.
“It’s fantastic to see the progress the teams have made since Christmas and the level of dedication and commitment from all 64 of our competitors is staggering. Everyone has put such a lot of time and effort into practicing and fundraising with all money raised going to such a worthy cause. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved and can’t wait to see how everything comes together on the night!”
Each team will be scored out of 10 by a celebrity panel of judges consisting of TV presenter and personality, Matt Johnson (TV’s Surprise Surprise, Good Morning Britain, This Morning and Lorraine), Welsh actress Justine Jones, (BBC drama ‘Ludo’) and professional dance teachers Sean and Kay Perry.
Stars In Your ICE and WRize will be competing against teams from The Breast Centre, Creditsafe, Creazione, Plas Y Felin primary school, SSEand Thomas Carroll.
How can you help?
To sponsor Stars In Your ICE, you can text STRC94 followed by £5 or £10 to: 70070 or visit their Just Giving page.
To sponsor WRize, you can text STRC96 followed by £5 or £10 to: 70070 or visit their Just Giving page.
If you would like any more information, you can call Wize Virtual Admin on 02921 202 130 or email [email protected].