I have been asked to host a Charity Salsa Night at Las Iguanas, Lakeside on Friday 25th June on behalf of a local Thurrock Youth Support Group, who provide life coaching and support for teenagers. I have included more information at the end of this post…

The evening starts at 7:30pm with a Buffet meal, followed by a Beginner Salsa Class at 9pm (ish), and then a Salsa Disco till late, and will cost just £20, with £5 going to the charity.

Sounds like a great excuse for a party if you ask me!

When I was asked to do it by Susanna, she was unsure of how many people she would be able to get to attend, so I asked if I could promote it to Salsa SOS club members… to which she kindly said yes!

It has been ages since we have had a good party, and I can’t think of a better reason than to raise money for such a worthwhile cause… so please make the effort and come along, and even if YOU can’t make it, please make sure you share this information with all your salsa friends, and help make this a successful event.

If enough of you are interested (20+)…

I am prepared to turn up an hour early and provide you guys with an Intermediate salsa (or Rueda) class, at no extra charge, before we sit down for the meal. So get sharing!

To confirm your place, you need to pay me at one of our club nights, and I will need full payment from you in advance… Ideally by Wednesday next week at the latest, to give Las Iguanas early enough notice of the likely numbers they will need to cater for.

The last event of this kind we held at Las Iguanas was our Christmas dinner & dance (organized by Kristie), and it sold out very quickly. Let’s see if we can make this event equally successful.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Stuart

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Below is a copy of the email I received from Susanna explaining what her organization does and what we are raising money for on June 25th.

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Hi Stuart,

The Coaching for Communities programme consists of two main components.

The first is a six day residential where young people spend the majority of time (85%) in the course room looking at the issues which have occurred in their lives that have been preventing them from achieving what it is they want from life, and how to let these go in order to move forward.

However one day in the middle of the course there is an activity day based around various high and low rope activities and a 35′ pole which has a small disc on it which they have to jump off of.

The purpose of this day is about facing their fears, and for some, achieving something for the first time in their lives. This component is primarily funded by Government and Local Authority funding through a natiional charity called ‘Youth at Risk’.

The second component consists of a nine month ‘Follow Through’, where each participant is matched with a Life Coach called a Committed Partner. These are volunteers from the local community who are trained to work with the young people each week for the next nine months, and join them at monthly follow through days which reconnect them with the work they did at the residential.

This is the component for which we are raising funds.

The money raised will provide activities designed to build upon the work the young people have done at the residential to build self esteem, confidence and push them to achieve more than they have done previously, pay for venues etc for both the current residential and the previous residential held in March this year.

Whist the current residential will be aimed at 16-18 year olds who may not be in education, employment or training it also targets those young people who may be struggling within education or relationships which may be holding them back, there was a prior residential held earlier this year for young people aged 14-16.

This has proved very sucessful and many of the young people who attended have described it as life changing.

Best Regards

Susanna

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