#TEAMSUSIE Dance-athon

Welcome and thank you for visiting my first blog. This is a special blog and not because it is my first but because it is dedicated to a very special lady… Susan Lockyer. This is the second time I have wrote this, I started it last night but as I was writing it I heard the sad news that Susie had sadly passed away.

Susan had inspired so many people with her courage and strength! In 2013 Susan lost her son Gary and husband Brian to cancer. If that was not bad enough she then fell ill to the awful disease herself! In 2015 after her first course of chemotherapy she took part in the 5k race for life completing it in 34 minutes! What a woman! Over the years #teamsusie has been working tirelessly at events around the region raising money for cancer research. large group of close friends and family started off with the great north run, the boxing day dip, head shaves and anything else they could do to raise funds and awareness. As the years went by #teamsusie grew, it was great to see those pink tshirts out in force, always smiling, always having fun and never letting this illness stop their drive! Which leads me to the reason for my first blog….

Saturday the 22nd of July was another amazing fundraiser for cancer research, a huge dance-athon held at Ashington leisure centre! I went along to take some photos for them, I was tempted to join in but my coordination needs a little work! When I arrived I was blown away at how many people turned out… everyone was smiling and laughing, the atmosphere there was amazing, then the music started….the 3 amazing instructors, Lindsey, Amy and Laraine never stopped! Taking it in turns up on the stage keeping everyone pumped up and motivated, not only that but when they weren’t on stage they were amongst the crowd joining in!

In the sports hall, there were people of all ages and abilities but every single person there gave it their all for 3 hours only stopping for a quick water break now and again then straight back into position. it was tiring just watching them! Near the end Lindsey one of the instructors disappeared but soon came back to give everyone a laugh and one final push as she fell up on stage dressed up as an elderly woman. Laughs and giggles could be heard all around the hall as the tempo increased and everyone went crazy one last time, they were dancing like they had just started not like they have been doing it for 3 hours! Then the song cut to a warm down song Ed Sheeran – thinking out loud…. There was a laugh and a sigh when the line “when your legs don’t work like they used to before” came on and I think everyone there related to it.

At the time of writing this #teamsusie has raised £24,190.00 that is more than double their £10,000 target! To me, every single person involved with reaching that amount should be proud of themselves, #teamsusie will carry on….. only now it will be in memory of an amazing woman who has touched so many people and left a lot of love in their hearts.