PICTURES: Strictly Inverness stars raise over £2000 for the Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre
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Strictly Inverness stars Amy Macleod and Lana Ingram, from Inverness, raised thousands of pounds for the Highland Hospice after hosting a tipsy tea party.
Amy is a trainee solicitor dedicating her participation in Strictly Inverness to her late dad and granny.
Originally from Breaclete, lost her dad Iain Mervyn when she was a teenager and set up the Motivated by Mervyn charity in his name, raising money for safety equipment for fishermen.
Her granny Catriona Ruth died last year after having motor neurone disease (MND).
Amy now fundraises to help cope with the grief of losing her loved ones.
She said: "Fundraising is what has helped me with my grief over the years, so it’s something I will carry on forever."
Now she is partnered up with Lana, and are learning a jive and a show dance, as well as a team dance with seven other couples who are performing on the Thursday evening of the annual dance contest in aid of organisers and hosts, the hospice and Inverness Ice Centre.
Lana is determined to step outside of her comfort zone and take on Strictly Inverness after she was diagnosed with early menopause in her 20s.
She said: "I felt like I didn't want to be around people because I wasn't the same person.
"I wasn't as outgoing as I used to be, and I lost joy in the things I used to love.
"I thought I was a burden to people because my emotions just started to spiral.
"By taking on Strictly, I thought it would be an opportunity to become myself again as I had definitely lost who I am through it."
The pair hosted a tipsy tea party at Kingsmills Hotel and managed to raise over £2000.
Amy said: "We had a great turnout for the tipsy tea party. Although we had a few people pull out, we managed to fill their places before the day, which was a relief!
"I was actually a bit overwhelmed after the event. It went better than I expected and also raised considerably more money than I expected.
"It felt great seeing everyone up on the dance floor all afternoon having a good time while raising money for a good cause.
"From the moment the band started playing the dance floor was full and I think my favourite part was seeing everyone there.
"A highlight was seeing everyone dancing in sync to Tina Turner's Proud Mary.
"This was one of our bigger events and seeing how well our others had gone so far we really wanted it to live up to our expectations, which I think it definitely is.
"Both of us just want to be able to raise as much money as possible for the hospice and ice centre and it makes it even better when everyone is enjoying themselves while helping these worthwhile causes."
They have a few more fundraising events planned including a race night in Stornoway this Saturday, a pub quiz at the Fluke in Inverness on March 23 and a family fun day at The Training Club in Inverness the day after.
