Chris Upton OBE, master of Carnarvon Lodge No 2376, took on the challenge of the Queenscourt Hospice’s Strictly event to raise money for the much-loved charity based in Southport. Queenscourt Hospice is a local charity that provides access to specialist palliative care either at home (including care homes), hospital or in Queenscourt.
Chris will openly admit that he isn’t the lightest on his feet and has never danced prior to the event. He was fortunate to be paired with his amazing professional dancer, Kaz Leach, owner of the Marshside School of Dance, who he met regularly with over the past few months to be put through his paces during practise sessions.
As the headteacher of Tarleton Community Primary School, Chris has seen the impact Queenscourt Hospice has done first hand, by supporting families at such difficult times in their lives and wanted to raise money to help that brilliant work continue. He also wanted to show the children at his school that sometimes you have to break out of your comfort zone and hoped to inspire more boys to dance. Therefore, he wanted to get the children involved and set up an after-school dance club run by Kaz culminating in their own fundraising event which was watched by their parents and friends, and it was great to see some of the boys getting involved too.
The Prince of Wales Hotel in Southport became the venue for the Queenscourt Hospice’s event, and on the same night that the real Strictly was being televised at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool just across the bay. 300 people took their seats on what was an incredible event with 11 contestants taking to the floor doing a range of dances. Chris and Kaz danced the foxtrot to Fly Me to the Moon, and his friends remarked that they were surprised at how well he did, whilst he explained that he was just pleased to get through it without making any mistakes. Chris raising over £1,300 towards the charity total.
The event was a huge success and was a wonderful night of fundraising, with the total raised for the evening being over £50,000! It isn’t too late to sponsor the event, please click on the following link if you wish to support Chris and Queenscourt: Chris Upton is fundraising for Queenscourt Hospice