Strictly Inverness star hosts glamorous masquerade ball raising over £5k for the Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre
A Strictly Inverness star hosted an ostentatious masquerade ball in a bid to raise as much money and awareness for charity as possible.
Content editor for Highland News and Media, Andy Dixon (39), is taking part in the ultimate dance contest after some friends and family close to him were diagnosed with cancer, and felt this was his opportunity to ‘give back’.
“We’ve been the media partner of this wonderful event since day one and whenever I went to the final, I always thought: ‘I’d love to do that’,” Andy said of his participation in the annual dance contest that has generated more than £2 million for organisers and hosts Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre since it launched in 2010.
He added: “During my career I’ve written, edited and read countless articles about the tremendous work the hospice does and anyone I’ve spoken to about the cause always speaks so highly of it.
“Sadly, I have friends and family who have had cancer so this is an opportunity to give something back.”
The 39-year-old father-of-two added: “I also want to show my girls that if they put their mind to something, they can do it.”
So far, Andy has raised a staggering £7000 from fundraising activities and continues on his mission to raise as much money as possible before showtime next month.
Joining Andy on his Strictly journey is former police officer Ruth Mason, who is taking part in this year’s Strictly Inverness in tribute to her late husband.
Ruth, who claims to be no dancer, revealed a poignant reason behind her decision to take part.
Her husband, Stuart, died just over a year ago – just weeks before their seventh wedding anniversary – and she found the Highland Hospice provided invaluable support and enabled them to spend their last night together in its Inverness unit.
Taking part in Strictly Inverness is, in part, a way of thanking the charity.
She said: “As it was coming up to the first anniversary of my husband’s death, for me it was part of having a focus and challenge for myself and also the hospice means a lot to me.”
All of the contestants have been challenged by the hospice to raise a minimum of £1000 each, however, both Ruth and Andy have raised over £12,000 combined so far.
In aid of Andy’s fundraising challenge, he hosted a glamorous masquerade ball at the weekend, which raised over £5000.
When talking about the success of his event, he said: "I was so lucky to have the help and support of my colleague Louise Ross and others at Highland News and Media for the Highland Masquerade Ball at the Drumossie Hotel on Friday night.
"It was a spectacular success, raising over £5000 with around 135 people in attendance.
“We had a fabulous meal, some phenomenal donations for our games and raffle, an awesome performance from local TFX dancers, an amazing ceilidh led by Tweed and it was compared brilliantly by Gary Tuach, who closed the night with a DJ set laden with floorfillers.
“Evie Morrison, who was a finalist in BBC hit show The Traitors, was also a gracious special guest, being interviewed in front of the audience by one of my star reporters, Annabelle Gauntlett, and happy to chat and have photos with anyone who was there.
"Feedback has been positive and it was terrific to see so many people embraced the theme and wore masks. Although a lot of work, it was well worth the effort and the memories will stay with me for a long time to come.”
Andy added: "As well as being thankful to all the individuals and businesses who supported the ball, I was especially pleased to see the support from fellow Strictly Inverness dancers - past and present.
“Although it’s a competition, part of the reason I signed up was to meet more people and form more friendships and going along to each other's events is something I’ve tried to do as much as possible as well."
To support Andy’s fundraising efforts visit Justgiving/AndyDixon.
