Well, that's a wrap, folks! Our incredible Dance Against Dementia campaign officially concluded on Monday 26th May with a spectacular grand finale.
This campaign was launched to urge the government to no longer ignore dementia. We aimed to raise awareness and demand action, specifically in response to the removal of the 66.7% dementia diagnosis target (and all mention of dementia) from the NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025-26. By dancing for 66.7 days, we aimed to highlight this crucial issue and stand with the Alzheimer's Society in making dementia the political priority it needs to be.
From 21st March all the way to 26th May, our community came alive with dance! We held a lively conga in the park and a fantastic party outside the Produce Hall. People danced in their lounges, their kitchens, and even on cruise ships! A major highlight in the campaign was our flashmob at the Royal Nawwab Pyramid on 26th April, performing an amazing routine to Antony Szmerick's "Great Pyramid of Stockport." We also received a huge contribution of dances from the world’s largest Morris Dancing performance with over 1000 dancers which also took place in Stockport on 26th April. We joined a party in the park with the Ohana Theatre on 17th May and enjoyed captivating dance performances from In Step at our Heaton Mersey disco. We even took over Stockport County, getting supporters, security, and first aiders all dancing along! The wonderful gym goers at Waterwide gym in Didsbury let us log all their Zumba classes! We were also able to log an incredible 400 dances from the amazing On Broadway Dance Fitness – Stockport and Cheshire East! A huge thank you to Sector 3 for letting us do our Pyramid dance routine at Stockport Rocks and for the 400 people who joined in! Thank you to Walthew House - Stockport's Centre for the Deaf and Blind for joining us on stage and signing for us!
Our campaign concluded with our epic 12-mile Dance-a-Thon on 26th May. Our journey began on Stockport Road in Mossley and saw us dance, sing, and play amazing songs all the way to Stockport Old Town. With a phenomenal team of volunteers by our side, we created an atmosphere of pure joy and determination. The support from the public was overwhelming: car horns were beeping, lorries were honking, and people even pulled over to donate to the charity on the spot!
By 4pm on 26th May, the campaign officially wrapped up as we proudly handed over our final dance total – an incredible 5,668 dances!
These dances were presented to Rachel Wise from Labour for Reddish North, who will now pass them on to Navendru Mishra MP, for delivery to Wes Streeting in Parliament. We are confident that this powerful visual representation of community action will highlight the urgent need for renewed focus on dementia diagnosis.
This campaign has been a testament to what we can achieve when we come together.
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