Strictly dance contest is hospice's top fundraiser

An annual dance competition that raises money for a hospice charity is celebrating a record-breaking year, having raised more than £200,000.

This year's Strictly Knot Dancing is the biggest single fundraising event in the history of the Dougie Mac, based in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent.

This year's event, packed full of glitter and sequins, was held at the King's Hall in Stoke on Friday, and has already surpassed last year's total of £145,000, even before all the donations have been fully totted up.

It involved 12 amateurs from the city being paired with professional dancers to compete in front of an audience of about 600 people, as well as dancing for expert judges to win the glitterball trophy.

This year's edition saw more than £120,000 raised before any of the contestants even stepped out onto the dancefloor, in a format familiar to viewers of BBC Strictly Come Dancing.

There is also a silent auction, tombola and other fundraising games on the night to help bring in as much money as possible for the charity.

"We were elated, we were jumping for joy when we came to the end," said Jenny Johnstone, one of this year's contestants.

"It's certainly one that's going to go down in history, that we were part of that group of 12 that managed to raise this volume of money."

She said the dancers were focussing on putting on "a good show" and that this was what encouraged people to donate.

"If we can put a really good show on, it makes people feel like they want to donate, they want to give us a bit more money."

Matt Holdcroft was another one of those taking part, and said there was a feeling from people in the room that everybody wanted them to do well.

"I was in the corridor, waiting to come out, and I thought 'right, I can do this, I can do this'.

"It was when I walked out into the room and then you see all the people in the room, the lights, and I think the adrenaline took over a little bit," he said.

"I think at the moment it's still sinking in," Holdcroft added. "We're on cloud nine with it."

The overall winner was Shanie Chaudry-Goodall, who wowed the judges to take home the trophy.

"She was absolutely fantastic, her dance was phenomenal, absolutely deserved to win," Johnstone said.

Between Johnstone and Holdcroft, it was Holdcroft who came out on top.

"It's incredibly nerve-wracking, and you don't realise how nervous we were leading up to it, throughout the day," Johnstone said.

"I, particularly, was really nervous just before coming out to do my own personal dance."

She said she had loved "every second" of taking part.

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