An evening of song and dance

In October 1966, with a handful of pupils and classes on only one afternoon a week, Janet Dickinson opened her School of Dance in a hut in the grounds of a community centre in Stockton-on-Tees. Five decades later, with her daughter Gaynor, the school has gone from strength to strength, with classes running six days a week. Three generations of dancers attend classes and put on shows. These shows have raised in excess of £175,000 over the years for local charities and schools.

On 12th November 2016, at The Forum, Northallerton, Janet very kindly brought her dancers and singer with the double aims of putting on a great show ... and raising much-needed funds for our branch. Tickets were sold out within weeks (we could have sold double the number if we'd had the space) and on the night the audience clapped and cheered as we listened to Sadie-Renée Malo's beautiful voice and watched young and older dancers alike delight us with their skills.

Janet not only so generously offered her school's dancing skills, but persuaded seven of our volunteers to brave the stage behind her in this 'one night only' routine:

The evening raised an amazing sum of £1500 and we cannot thank Janet and her team enough. She was accompanied on the evening by her daughter Gaynor, husband Bob, and countless helpers and supporters. Thank you to all of you.

Our thanks also to the following local businesses for their support:

• Ross's Uniform Shop, Middlesborough
• Mitchell's Newsagents
• Joe Cornish Gallery, Northallerton
• Riverford Organics
• Saks Hair and Beauty, Northallerton
• Hutton Flowers, Northallerton
• R & R Ice Cream, Leeming
• Hartburn Dancewear
• Thomas the Baker, Northallerton
• Sainsbury's
• Jim Wood for the programme design