It has been another great year for Expression Dance, a contemporary dance society at Cardiff University that have raised over £300 for charity. Over the course of the year, not only have we been performing across the UK in a number of competitions, but held many events to raise money for charity.
At the start of the year in October, we held a coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Open to all, the coffee morning welcomed new and old members to the society and simultaneously raised money for charity. We recommended everyone to donate directly to the website and served coffee and cakes to all who came and was a great success.
Also in October, we held a week of pink-themed classes to help raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in partnership with the Cardiff Uni Boob Team Society representing Coppa Feel. The classes held awareness to check ourselves, look out for signs, and encourage others to do the same.
With Christmas on the way, in December Expression did a joint charity event with the Cardiff Rowing Society to raise money for Crisis at Christmas to provide support for homeless people in Cardiff. We charged £2 for tickets and asked everyone to bring some tinned food for our food bank collection. We split the event in half with the first hour teaching our rowers alongside the dancers some dance routines. Impressed with their skills we then encouraged the rowers, with help from our dancers, to create some choreography of their own to perform in a competition at the end. After whipping out some incredible dance moves, the rowers then taught our dancers to row. After practicing on the rowing machines for 45 minutes, we were ready to go for another friendly (and not at all competitive...) competition. The event was incredibly successful, making new friends and raising over £75 for charity with plans to do more charity collaborations in the future.
Our biggest charity event of the year was our annual Dance-a-thon. Dance-a-thon is a 12-hour dance event, starting at 9 am and finishing at 9 pm. Dance-a-thon raised money for Dance Aid which is a charity that raises money for orphaned, poor, and disabled children across the UK, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Dance Aid also provides emergency relief for children in disaster zones and earthquake territories such as Turkey and Syria. Every hour a new class starts with a different style of dance, inviting other dance societies such as Bollywood, Aerial Fitness, and Korean Choreography to teach. Charging £1 for classes, members and non-members could drop in and out of it throughout the day, make friends, and have fun. By the end of the day, there were lots of smiley, sweaty faces but very pleased that we’d raised over £230 for charity and it became our biggest success of the year.
With even bigger plans for more charity events for next year keep an eye out for Expression charity socials on our Instagram @expressiondancecu for more. Just below are links to the charities for more information and donation pages.