Tea dance joy for St George’s Day celebration
Vincents sponsors charity fundraiser
The modern Waltz, a box Tango and a few variations on the Foxtrot; guests had a ball at this year’s St George’s Day tea dance in Lytham. Part of the town’s six-day festival, this hugely popular event at Lowther Pavilion welcomed more than 100 visitors and raised thousands of pounds for charity.
Entertained by the Bill Barrow Quartet and vocalist Lynne Fox, guests filled the dance floor for number after toe-tapping number, showing off their moves and delighting those who preferred to sit and watch. A delicious afternoon tea was provided by The Villa at Wrea Green with service from the volunteers of Trinity Hospice and Lowther Pavilion, two of the three charities benefitting from the fundraising.
Lytham’s Vincents Solicitors sponsored the event, so all money raised could go directly into the fundraising pot to be split between Trinity Hospice, the Lowther Pavilion Restoration Fund and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.
Zoe Fleming, Chris Mathews and Dona Matthews from Vincents attended, with Zoe providing a welcome address and kicking off the raffle following a turn on the dancefloor.
She said: “What a truly wonderful afternoon it has been, we’ve loved every second. The music and the food were fantastic, and I was so impressed by the dancing, there are some really talented people out there and it looks like everyone had a great time.
“It’s really important to support community events that bring people together, especially older residents who don’t get out as much as they might like. We hope they enjoyed the occasion and, as we’ve pledged our support again for 2020, we’d love to see them join us again next year.”
Vincents also ran a competition to give away two pairs of tickets. The first of the winners was Dawn Simmons from Thornton who brought along mum Jean Wilson who was celebrating her 80th birthday the very next day.
Dawn said: “This is such a fabulous birthday treat for mum and she’s having a fantastic time. We can’t thank Vincents enough for the tickets.”
Jean added: “I learned to dance as a girl back in Bradford and I loved to go out dancing when I moved to Blackpool, but I’ve not been for many years. It’s wonderful to see everyone on the dancefloor and I’ve had a lovely time having a little dance with the new friends we’ve met today. Thank you so much.”
Suzanne and Phil Burgess from Marton also won. Suzanne said: “I love this era, the music, the dresses, the dancing, and I was so happy to win the tickets. It has been a really wonderful afternoon, huge thanks to Vincents.”
Michelle Lonican from Trinity Hospice said: “What a lovely event, you could see everyone having so much fun. We’re so grateful to be one of the nominated charities and delighted with how much has been raised. I must say a big thank you to all of the Trinity volunteers who gave up their time today to help serve the afternoon tea and sell raffle tickets, without them we could not raise the money to provide the vital care for the people of the Fylde Coast community.”
Tim Lince, one of the organisers of the event, added: “One of the highlights of our St George’s Festival celebrations, the tea dance was once again a huge success. We simply couldn’t stage events like this or raise so much for charity without the support of our fabulous local businesses. We are so grateful to Vincents for sponsoring the tea dance and delighted they have already offered to come on board to help us again next year.”
A full gallery of pictures from the St George’s Day Tea Dance is available on the Vincents Solicitors Facebook page.