Community champions support the Gosportians' tea dance

Our Gosport store's community champion Rachel Webber has a great relationship with the Gosportarians community group – so when she suggested organising an afternoon tea dance for local people who may otherwise be lonely they worked together to bring her idea to life.

More than 50 people were entertained by a dance group and singer for the fun event, and Rachel was joined by Julie Motherwell and Danielle Dean from our Totton and Portsmouth stores, who took to the dancefloor before serving refreshments to guests.

The group's founder Malcolm Dent said: "We started out in 2016 and I'd dealt with Rachel previously in my Rotary Club role, so I knew she would be a good person to have on board to listen to my ideas and suggest her own too.

"She wanted us to run a community event and suggested a tea dance. It sounded great and we decided to bring along a dance teacher and youngsters from Jubilee School of Dancing to encourage everyone to join in.

"It was an event for the over 55s who wanted to socialise, and have a dance too.

"We have a great relationship with local Asda stores – they help us out with our events and we help them too. We like to go in to stores and dress up in fancy dress and various costumes to support their fundraising events, and the community is better for this relationship."

Rachel said: "It was a wonderful opportunity to give people the chance to meet, chat and relax.

"I really enjoyed mixing with everyone and watching people get more involved as the afternoon progressed."

Find out more about Gosportarians on their website: http://www.gosportarians.co.uk/