A woman from Gamlingay in South Cambridgeshire has danced her way to a staggering fundraising total for a charity close to her heart by holding a fitness fundraising event in Biggleswade with the help of her friends and family.
The upbeat fundraiser held in March saw Dee Kendall team up with friend Lisa Hillier to host three dance fitness classes at the Weatherley Centre to raise £2,740 for Sue Ryder in memory of Dee’s mum, Maddy.
Over 100 people joined in the sold-out fitness fun which started with a Zumba Gold session, then Beatz and finishing with an electrifying Glow Beatz session.
Some fitness fanatics completed all three events – dancing for 135 minutes!
Dee says her mum, Maddy, who regularly attended dance fitness sessions, would have been in her element at the event.
“My mum was my best friend as well as my mum,” shares Dee. “We had very similar tastes and she loved to dance. Mum and I went along to a similar dance charity event like this one as participants and she would have loved this. She would have been in her element and would be so proud and pleased we raised what we did for Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice.
“Mum always had the biggest smile for everyone. Ask anyone and everyone would say the same – she was a really beautiful lady and the kindest person. So many people miss her.
“She was so brave during her illness and she never worried for herself. Even right at the end she was more worried about my dad and the family and my brother than herself.”
Dee’s mum received care from Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice in Bedfordshire, and it was this care which inspired Dee to do all she could to support the charity.
“I cannot speak more highly of Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice. I have never had any experience of a hospice before last year when mum was there. I didn’t know what to expect. The staff there were just superb. They could not do enough for my mum or the rest of the family. It is hard to find words.
“Care teams just had a way of being there when you needed them and stepping away when you needed to just be the family together. It was seamless and we felt like we were the only people in the hospice and the only people that mattered. The Sue Ryder care teams are very skilled people emotionally and medically with the care that they give.”
It was while Dee was with her mum at the hospice that she read some information which said that although the care was provided for free, it cost the charity £500 a day to run a bed on its inpatient unit.
“That figure stuck in my head and I knew then that I really wanted to do what I could to cover the cost of mum’s care. She was there for ten days and I would love to cover the cost of her staying there. I wanted to give back for what we had as a family.”
Being a freelance book keeper by day and a community fitness instructor by night Dee says she had a skill to offer something to people to raise funds for the charity, so she teamed up her close friend Lisa Hillier to organise the fitness fundraiser.
“Lisa is very experienced fitness instructor who took me under her wing. She inspired me to become an instructor myself and mentored me. Lisa runs a charity event most years so this year I asked if we could do it for Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice. Mum used to go to Lisa’s classes as well so there was a really strong connection.”
Family rallied around to add their support too, and Dee says the event left her feeling really emotional.
“People were so generous,” Dee adds. “We held a number square fundraiser and one of the prizes was a cash prize and the lady that won it donated it back. It made me cry. I was so overwhelmed. It was so emotional to be doing this in mum’s memory.
“So many kind, lovely people attended and I want to thank them and celebrate them for their support.”
“There are so many people I want to mention – my three sons who helped organise the reception desk on the night, Helen Ashton, manager at the Weatherley Centre who gave us the hall for free which made a huge difference to our fundraising and Serena Marriot who came all the way from Northampton to support the event and donated some women’s active wear StepNPump to our raffle. We had an amazing raffle donation from FitJam of some tickets to their events too alongside a prize donated by Avanti Hair Studio. I would also like to thank Lisa for her continued support.”
Dee says she and Lisa enjoyed the event so much that they will be planning more in the future, and they’ve also signed up to deliver the warm up session at Sue Ryder’s Starlight Hike event in Bedfordshire being held later this year.
For more information on the different ways you can support Sue Ryder, or to register your interest to attend Starlight Hike contact the fundraising team at stjohnsfundraising@sueryder.org or call – 01767 642 412.
For more information on Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice visit www.sueryder.org/stjohns.
