Jane Cranston on how Strictly Oxford became such a success

Fundraising is something that many people shy away from. So when I was asked to think of something that would both raise money for, and awareness of, Vale House (now in Littlemore — previously in Botley) I went away and thought hard.

Word got out and reached the ears of the Step by Step Dance School, one of whose instructors, Viv Rhymes, volunteered to help by organising an Oxford event based on the BBC’s hugely successful Strictly Come Dancing.

I readily admit to having been a bit dubious as to how we could possibly raise funds this way but Mary Carey, a friend who was already learning to ballroom dance, persuaded me that the idea had legs and together we decided to give it a go.

We then had to set about turning the idea into reality.

We had the professionals, in the form of the Step by Step Dance School, led by the charismatic Andrzej Mialkowski. All we needed now was celebrities, sponsors to believe in our idea, a venue, a committee and a bit of luck.

The first bit of luck was that Newsquest, the publisher of The Oxford Times, loved the idea and offered to do our printing and publicity for us. Their offer filled us with enthusiasm and we were off!

The next good fortune was being introduced to the persuasive Bill Heine, just the man for charming unsuspecting celebrities into dancing for charity!

Our committee was now four, Mary, Viv, Bill and myself. We were then joined by the ever efficient Vicki Jack to keep us and the minutes straight and advertising manager Shane Harding, who became not only our link with The Oxford Times, but who also danced.

That first year, three years ago, the only person who knew what we were doing was Viv. The rest of us were filled with the enthusiasm of the amateur.

We found the venue, Oxford Town Hall, we found other sponsors, most notably Lucy Properties, who still sponsor us, we found our dancers, who included that first year the Chief Constable and our MP, while Christopher Biggins generously agreed to compere the show.

We were thrilled and astonished that first year to raise £35,000 (we had hoped to achieve between £10,000 and £20,000) and after that there was no turning back.

We were then brave enough to move to the larger New Theatre for our second year and raised a further £40,000!

2014 is year three and last Sunday evening was yet another triumph. Andrzej’s superbly professional production, Biggins’s skilful and humorous compering, the celebrities’ hard work and commitment to their six weeks of training (yes, a few incidents did occur but hey — we’re into show business, what else would you expect?) and the wonderful Step by Step professionals mean that by the time we’ve finished counting we will have raised over £100,000 for Vale House over the three years.

And the fundraising? It’s a joy. Each year we have 16 new nervous celebrities who each set up a Just Giving page for their friends and families to support them.

Not only do we provide a theatre full of people with a memorable extravaganza of an event, but we’re able to raise a lot of money by being able to approach a whole new set of people each time to support our fundraising.

Clever idea! Strictly Oxford has brought dancing to Oxford, the audience love it, we raise money for a great cause and so far 48 local celebrities have learnt to dance and loved it! 2015 here we come, so keeeeeeep dancing.

* If you would like to support Vale House, a care home for people with Alzheimer’s or late-stage dementia, please go to their website at valehouse.org.uk and click on Strictly Oxford. Select a name from the list of dancers and add to their Just Giving page. Thank you!