A Salford dance class teacher, who has been doing plenty of work to try and get people moving during lockdown, is now taking part in a nationwide event to raise money for BBC Children in Need.

Joanne Farnell, and over one hundred of her pupils at Miss Joanne Farnell School of Dancing, will be putting on their dancing shoes for this year’s Tapathon event.

Tapathon is a nationwide event where thousands of tap-dancing enthusiasts, both trained and un-trained, come together on the same day at the same time in a bid to attain a World record and raise money for charity.

The 2019 event saw over £40,000 raised for Children in Need across the UK and a new tap-dance World record set.

This year is expected to be even bigger, although the event will be slightly different due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tapathon 2020 takes place on Sunday 15th November and will take place virtually over video calls across the country with the record for the most amount of virtual dancing at the same time looking to be broken.

At Joanne’s dance school at Bridgewater Mill, there will be some tap-dancing families in the studios dancing together, where it is safe to do so.

Joanne refurbished the first floor of Bridgewater Studios in Eccles during lockdown to create three new dance studios and practice rooms for her pupils.

The refurbished studios reopened in September. Image from Joanne Farnell.

This has allowed her to safely run classes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Joanne believes that it was crucial to try and get some normality back into her pupil’s lives following a long time off:

“We have had to overcome any difficulties with coronavirus and the restrictions that are in place, but it all seems to be going quite well so far.

“I think everybody needed a little bit of normality following the lockdown and they definitely needed some exercise. It was lovely to see everybody back dancing. Although there are lots of changes, it’s still great to be active again”

About the event on Sunday 15th November, Joanne said:

“Last year it raised over £40,000 for children in need and it broke a new world record! We are hoping to raise a huge amount yet again, especially in this very challenging year.”

Despite the recent news of a second national lockdown, Tapathon 2020 is still taking place.

To find out more information about the event, head over to http://www.theperformersproject.co.uk

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