Meet the couples as Portadown Cares does Strictly Nashville

Portadown Cares has been instrumental in raising in excess of £150,000 for local clubs, groups and charities through their previous five events

by
Staff Reporter
March 7, 2022

Pictures courtesy of Marie Allen Photography.

Every year since 2015 (with the exception of last year) local registered charity Portadown Cares organise and host their “Strictly Come Dancing” event in The Seagoe Hotel with 12 amateur couples raising money for a good cause/charity of their choice.

This year the theme is “Strictly Nashville” which means that their first dance (Ballroom style) will be to country music, but they are able to choose their own music and style for their second dance (Freestyle).

They are provided with free weekly professional dance tuition for around five months leading up to two nights of a dance spectacular which sees an audience in excess of 400 people on each of the two nights.

An important difference to Strictly type events run by others is that the dancers are provided with a means to raise money for a local group, club or charity which they hold dear to their hearts instead of the organisers.

Using this method Portadown Cares has been instrumental in raising in excess of £150,000 for local clubs, groups and charities through their previous five events, and this level of support looks set to continue this year on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12.

A very limited number of tickets are still available for the Friday night from the Portadown Cares charity shop in the High Street Mall but the Saturday is completely sold out.

This year’s event is sponsored by local businessman Owen Matchett and his now famous “The Agent” estate agency.

In fact, not only is Owen the sponsor, but he too will be the compere for the shows as well!

Portadown Cares would like to thank The Agent, The Seagoe Hotel, and all the couples, business sponsors and programme advertisers for their support, and look forward to another successful and enjoyable Strictly!

This year thanks to Atmosphere Immersive Media they are going to be livestreaming both nights so that people can watch the shows even if they haven’t been able to get a ticket.

All photographs by Marie Allen Photography, Portadown.