AN award winning troupe of young Morris Dancers from Warrington are celebrating after being presented with new uniforms.
A total of 65 girls from Harlequin Morris Dancers, Longford, each received their own hand made dress after the group received £1,700 in funding from Golden Gates Housing Trust’s Heart of the Community Fund.
Harlequin Morris Dancers was started in 1989 by Hazel Nash of Longford with just 27 girls.
Now its membership stands at more than 65, consisting of five teams aged between three and 19. The troupe practice twice a week at William Beamont High School, and compete every Sunday throughout the North West, winning numerous trophies and contests in the process. Prior to approaching GGHT for funding, Hazel had managed to raise half of the money required to buy the troupe new uniforms but was struggling to complete the order.
The Heart of the Community Fund was established by GGHT and its partners to support individuals and groups striving to improve the lives of residents in Longford.
The fund has also provided support recently to the Longford Resident Association, who will be holding a Community Fun Day in Longford on Sunday April 22 to celebrate St George’s Day.
Hazel Nash said: “We are extremely grateful to GGHT and its partners for this funding. Without the panel’s help we would have only been able to provide half the troupe with dresses and would have been unable to take part in recent competitions.”
GGHT’s Longford Project co-ordinator Jane Lauchlan, said: “We were all very impressed with the work that Hazel was undertaking with the young girls, so much so that one of the partners agreed to increase the funding we offered the group by £500 to help them meet their running costs.
“In particular we recognised that Hazel not only provided the troupe’s members with dance training to and from competitions, but also worked hard to increase the girl’s self-esteem and to ensure general well-being”.
Pictured: Members of the Harlequin Morris Dancers with their new uniforms and a selection of recent trophies.
