Footloose fundraiser: 60-hour dancing challenge to help two charities

ENERGETIC fundraisers are being invited to dance until they drop as part of a major drive in aid of two separate charities.

Party revellers hope to dance constantly for up to 60 hours over the October bank holiday weekend in Wexford in an effort to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society and Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

The drive involves Unique Events Ltd and as many participants as possible from across the country. The organisers are hopeful they will manage to shatter the Guinness World Record for the Longest Dance Party Marathon on the weekend of 27-29 October.

“In the hope of raising funds for the Irish Cancer Society and Our Lady’s Hospital for Children, Crumlin, dancers from all over the country will gather on the quay front of Wexford town,” one of the event’s organisers said.

“The challenge will consist of volunteers dancing for more than 52 hours and three minutes, which is the current record held in Cleveland, Ohio. Unique Events Ltd will be rallying volunteers to complete the record breaking attempt in approximately 60 hours to ensure the record for the Longest Dance Party Marathon is retained in Ireland for as long as possible,” she added.

Donations will also be collected in the run up to the attempt and during the three-day event in the form of sponsorship cards, collection points and direct donations given through the Unique Events Ltd.

Fifteen DJs will supply a constant stream of music with everything from current chart hits to the golden oldies for a bit of variety. Catering, refreshments, toilet facilities, medical staff and security personnel will also be present to cater for the dancers’ every need.

And helping to provide dancers are groups including the Ann Murphy School of Dancing, Mary Kate’s Hip Hop Dance Club and lively salsa group The Heart, Soul and Jive Experience.

Unique Events Ltd has enlisted the help of several local businesses to ensure that any need the dancers have can be catered for too. Organisations such as the Order of Malta, Wexford Borough Council, Wexford County Council and the Wexford Lifeguard Association have already pledged their support to the record-breaking attempt with more set to follow.

Businesses such as Club Vitae in the Quality Hotel, Wexford, Whites Hotel, Wexford, and Pump Palace Gym, Bunclody, are all providing training facilities for volunteers who will attempt to dance for 60 hours.

“As this record-breaking attempt is for extremely good causes, we expect to receive a high response rate and hopefully accumulate a large donation for each charity and turn this record into a point of pride for county Wexford and the whole of Ireland,” the organiser added.

* Sponsorship cards and further information is available from Vickie Dunne, Unique Events Ltd, 20 Mount Prospect, Clonard, Wexford. Telephone/fax [phone] or send an email to uniqueeventsltd @eircom.net