London Marathon/10k Confidance Fundraiser for Abi

This year we all lost a ray of sunshine from our lives. Our beautiful girl Abi passed away on the 6th January 2022. She touched so many lives in the wonderful years; the amount of love she shared is extraordinary.

She is described by so many as; Inspirational, Joyful, Unforgettable, Kind, Generous and Bright. She gave so much joy and happiness to this world and everyone around her. She is so deeply missed, and I wanted (like many others) to keep her memory and legacy alive.  

Abi spent her time working at the Beacon School in Folkestone where she thrived. The Beacon is a school offering pupils with complex needs and severe learning difficulties and physical and sensory impairments a wide range of educational experiences. Abi was a natural born teacher and from here she decided to study for her teacher training (PGCE).  

Outside of work Abi was a pure ray of sunshine: at school she was considered the class clown, lass of year and and that girl that ate a worm on the playground. She brought so much laughter and happiness to everyone around her through her incredible care free attitude. She would dance like no one’s watching and her laugh and pure love for life was infectious.

I wanted to pay tribute to her memory and continue her legacy to spread joy, laughter, and happiness and to offer support to others as she would selflessly do a countless number of times. Abi would always put others first. 

This is why I have decided to take part in the Vitality 10,000 in London on the 2nd May and the London Marathon on the 2nd October and in doing so, raising money for Confidance. I am lucky enough to be joined by my friends Rachel, Emily, Jesse, Jess, Holly and Emma to complete the run with me. Confidance are a non-profit company based in East Kent that deliver high quality dance work with integrity, creativity, and integration at its heart. They work with schools, venues, and communities to make dance and performance with dancers with learning disabilities. Abi knew of Confidance as her Mum’s friend regularly takes part. Any money raised would go towards ensuring classes can be delivered long term in an accessible way, removing the financial barriers for participants. Donations allow them the space to design projects which can respond directly to the creative ambitions and needs of the young people and adults involved. I believe that by doing this, her incredible legacy of dancing like no one is watching and supporting others especially those with learning disabilities lives on.

I am aiming to raise £500 for Confidance and any donation big or small would be greatly appreciated. I have attached some more information below about Confidance and what they do, if you wish to take a read.

Confidance Further Information 

We are a not-for-profit organisation, offering inclusive dance opportunities for people with learning disabilities in Kent. We work with people of all ages - from early years right through to adults and have a professional training company (ConfiCo) who create high-quality performances. At the heart of our work is the belief that all people and all bodies can be dancers, and we continue to deepen our research into developing new ways of working in a person-centred way. 

We work regularly in partner SEN schools - Wyvern School, Ashford, and Whitfield Aspen, Dover. We work with children of all abilities and have recently developed our ‘Embodied Improvisation' method, specifically created with and for children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities. We have also developed a youth company called ConfiYouth, which takes place weekly at Wyvern school. We are now looking to develop work experience options for young people with LD, creating pathways into employment beyond school.

Our community classes provide a space for personal, physical and creative growth. The classes are joyful and welcoming, fostering individual creativity and collective connection. We currently have classes running in Ashford and Folkestone, and you can get a feel for how we work through this film, made with Kent Sport: Click here.

ConfiCo is our professional training dance company, founded in 2019. ConfiCo are based at Quarterhouse (Creative Folkestone) training weekly in dance technique and performance skills. We work collaboratively with our artists to develop contemporary dance pieces, alongside regular training in dance facilitation. ConfiCo recently created 2 outdoor performances during the Covid-19 pandemic, inspired by the Folkestone Triennial.