Organisers hope to raise £2,000 for Thorngate Halls, in Gosport, where the students practise four times a week.

Up to 140 youngsters, from three to 16 years old, will perform in the show next week which will include ballet, tap, modern dancing and singing.

The Kermel School of Dancing has used the community centre in Bury Road for 18 years, so members decided to stage an event to help with its major refurbishment.

Janet Allpress, principal at the school, said: 'If we can raise the money then it will be enough to pay for all the repairs that are needed to the roof.

'Thorngate Halls is a great centre, which has a lot of facilities. We use it four times a week and it's brilliant.

'I think we'd have a lot of trouble finding anywhere else in the area if it closed down.

'It's warm and it's dry and it's just a great place to go and hopefully we can help them to stay open by putting this variety show on.'

The school's show Raise the Roof takes place at 2.30pm and 6.30pm on October 4.

On top of the small entry fee, there will also be a raffle with donated prizes, which is expected to raise hundreds of pounds towards the school's £2,000 target.

Roofer Chris Bullimore, 37, of Exmouth Road, Gosport, has already carried out a free patch-up job on the centre's roof. He waived the £1,200 fee because he proposed to his wife at the centre.

But the struggle is far from over for the Gosport Community Association, which runs and manages the halls, as altogether a whopping £220,000 is needed to repair and refurbish the centre, which opened in 1960.

The community association is running a variety of fund-raising events to try to scrape together the desperately-needed cash.

n For more information on the show and dance school, or to buy tickets for the event which cost £6 for adults or £5 for children and OAPs, call Mrs Allpress on (023) 9252 7070.

rob.dabrowski@thenews.co.uk