Glamorous fundraiser coming for Life Education Trust

Life Education Trust educator Beau Harrison with mascot Harold and Year 3 students from Room 10 in the mobile classroom at Te Wharau School. The Gisborne East Coast and Wairoa branch of LET will benefit from funds raised in the Dancing For Life Education event at the War Memorial Theatre in July.

The dancers have been selected and rehearsals have begun for the Dancing for Life Education event at the War Memorial Theatre at the end of July.

This is the main fundraising event for the Gisborne East Coast and Wairoa branch of Life Education Trust, a health education provider for primary schools, intermediates and kura across the region from Potaka in the north to Wairoa in the south.

Dancing for Life Education will feature 10 couples performing dance routines in the genre they have been given in front of a panel of judges, with an overall winner announced at the end.

The first Dancing for Life Education event in 2021 was a huge success, raising $30,000.

“Our first dancing event was a wonderful night,” GEC and Wairoa Life Education Trust chair Pat Seymour said. “People had a great time. Everyone got dressed up. It was a really glamorous affair and extremely entertaining.”

The trust relies entirely on philanthropic donations and fundraising, which goes towards its mobile learning centre that moves around schools over the course of the year.

Trained teachers are employed to deliver a programme that centres on health and wellbeing, with each school deciding on a programme that best suits it and its students.

In Gisborne, the mobile classroom spends the summer on the East Coast and in Wairoa, moving to city schools in the winter.

It is currently at Te Wharau School, where educator Beau Harrison is teaching everything from managing emotions to learning about food and nutrition.

Other subjects include bullying, the effect of substances on brain development, peer pressure and anxiety.

“It is such a worthwhile programme that equips our young people to deal with the issues that affect them in a positive, nurturing environment,” Seymour said.

“We want to make this year’s event a big success so we can raise the funds needed to provide this valuable educational service to our tamariki.”

The dancers will be revealed at the official launch on June 15.

Event organiser Cherie Gaukrodger has volunteered her time to run this year’s show and will call on her experience running popular hairdressing competitions in the past, as well as the Wearable Arts events for Eastwoodhill.

Judges on the night will be professional dancer Stephen Taylor, previous winner Shannon Gray from Ūawa and dance experts Heidi Rice and Toni Griffin.

A short auction will be held after the performances with art, holiday packages and local tourism experiences going under the hammer.

Tickets go on sale next week.