Portsmouth dancers spread awareness and raise thousands for Australia through 12-hour challenge

As bush fires continue to ravage Australia, Neptune Girls dance group took it upon themselves to make a difference and have raised nearly £3,000 for Australian Red Cross, smashing their original target which was set at £2,000.

On Sunday, more than 70 dancers and charity supporters joined in with dance, CrossFit and boxercise classes, as well as confidence-building workshops which took place throughout the day.

All the co-ordinators and teachers donated their time for free to run the classes at The Box Portsmouth in Commercial Road, as gym owners Claire and Carl Marsh offered its facilities free of charge for the day.

People taking part just had to give a donation of whatever they wanted to in order to join in, and six of the participants showed their dedication by dancing the day away and taking part in the full 12-hour event.

Carly-Ann Purcell, director of Neptune Girls, came up with this fundraising idea because she wanted to make a difference to the people affected by the devastating bushfires.

‘I just wanted to be able to do something, you know when you just feel a bit helpless,’ said Carly-Ann.

‘It’s nice to be able to pull together, we all had a great time.

‘I’m just so humbled by everybody’s efforts and really proud of everybody. I think it is in these times of devastation when people really do need to pull together.’

The Neptune Girls’ fundraising page is still open for anyone who wishes to increase the total, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/bushfires to donate.

Neptune Girls is a group with a mission to create safe, non-judgemental communities for adults to feel accepted and valued, helping to build confidence and self-esteem.

They run dance classes in Portsmouth, Chichester and Southampton, but are about to launch online classes for people to join in from home, wherever they are in the world.

For more information about getting involved with the group, visit neptunegirls.co.uk.