Line dancers kick up their heels for Cardiac Unit
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| Members and friends of both clubs present a cheque for £1,900 to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at Belfast City Hospital. | Edith Gilmore, who underwent a triple heart bypass at Belfast City Hospital. |
LOCAL Line Dancers 'Brookmount Dance Ranch' and 'Belsize Kickers' had some boot scootin' fun when they held a special evening in Lowquarter Orange Hall, Magheragall on April 30 to celebrate their charity fundraising efforts throughout the year.
The dancers, led by class teacher Sharon Hendron, have raised a magnificent £1,900 this year for the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at Belfast City Hospital, after one of the members of the group underwent heart bypass surgery at the hospital.
Sharon explained: "Every year the dancers vote for a charity they would like to fundraise for, and this year we had a special reason for nominating our chosen charity, Belfast City Hospital's Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit.
"A founder member of both clubs and the very much loved, Edith Gilmore, was told she needed a triple heart bypass. Edith, being her ever-enthusiastic self, wanted to keep dancing and remain as active as possible for as long as she could before her surgery. The nurses at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit were delighted at her general fitness and enthusiasm and were able to help Edith keep suitably active until the operation."
And it didn't take long for Edith to pull on her cowboy boots and join her fellow dancers following her operation.
Sharon continued: "Within weeks after surgery Edith began her supervised activity program at the Rehabilitation Unit and before long she was back dancing again. What an amazing lady."
Sharon added: "Edith puts her speedy recovery down to the help she received at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit. She has had first hand experience of the superb work the nurses do there and would dearly love to see it continue so others can benefit as she did.
"We were delighted to be able to present representatives from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit with £1,900 to help buy the required equipment needed to continue the good work that they do.
"A big thank you to all of you for doing your bit. This will help thousands of people in Northern Ireland to prepare for and recover from life-changing heart surgery. This brings the Line Dance club's fundraising total to date to £9,510.00. We can only continue to help others in this way through the help of good people like yourselves."
If anyone would like to join the line dancers for a fun way to exercise and an opportunity to raise money for those in need, the Line Dance classes are as follows:
Brookmount Dance Ranch every Monday at Lowquarter Orange Hall, Ballinderry Rd., Magheragall -Beginners 7-8pm, Improvers 8-9pm, Intermediates 9-10pm.
Belsize Kickers every Thursday at Lisburn Masonic Hall, Belsize Rd., Lisburn - Beginners/Improvers 8- 1Opm. All are very welcome.
For more information contact Sharon Hendron on 92 661559 or 07761090185 or visit www.brookmountdanceranch.piczo.com.
stacey.heaney@ulsterstar.co.uk
Ulster Star
21/05/2010
