One of the features of the Christmas period in recent years has been the finals of the X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. To be honest, until the latest series I’d never really watched Strictly before. However, back in September I took part in “Strictly Star” at the Everyman Theatre – a Gloucestershire version of Strictly Come Dancing which raised funds for the National Star College.

As someone who is not a natural dancer, this was well outside my comfort zone. In all, 15 local “personalities” were teamed up with more accomplished dancers to perform a routine on the night. This included Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards (who went on to win the competition), Dr Dawn from Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies, Rob Rees (The Cotswold Chef) and Radio Gloucestershire’s Claire Carter.

To add to the challenge, my dancing partner dropped out two weeks before the event meaning that my new partner, Sue Tribe, and I had to get our act together pretty quickly!

£50,000 target nearly reached
The performance itself, with a packed theatre and bright lights, was terrifying but the audience were wonderfully supportive. I got through without embarrassing myself too much, but I did prompt one of the judges, Jackie Llewellyn-Bowen, to say: “The male dancer’s job is to make the woman look fantastic and you did that very well!”
The fundraising target for the night was £50,000 and we’re nearly there. I held a screening of the show at Gloucester Guildhall back in October where Sue and I performed the routine all over again, but this time I was much better – perhaps because the pressure was off.

How you can help
To add to the sponsorship total, please visit strictlystar.everydayhero.com/uk/paulandsue and to learn more about the tremendous work of the National Star College, check out their website at www.natstar.ac.uk.

On behalf of the City Council, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. 2015 is going to be a big year for Gloucester – but I’ll talk more about that next time!