Move Dancewear's Children in Need Fundraiser

It’s the big Children in Need 2017 Appeal Show on Friday 17th November! We’ve been prepping for it at Move Dancewear HQ.

Move Dancewear's Children in Need Bake off featured all kinds of tasty treats. (Left to right) Honey pie, baked cheesecake, lemon drizzle, raspberry cheesecake, treacle tart, oreo cake, rocky road, banana loaf, marble brownies, flapjack, and salted caramel brownies.

The Move Dancewear Bake Off

You’ll be excited to know that we’re not just full of dance tips, we’re also a team of avid bakers! We decided to take some inspiration from The Great British Bake Off (if only the BBC still owned GBBO so it could have been a BBC double-whammy day) and encourage some friendly competition within the office. At least, we thought it was going to be friendly... The team really brought the heat and we even had some head-to-heads in the cheesecake and brownies departments. We had a sparkly gold box to place votes in for the best bake, which meant we each had to try all ELEVEN bakes! Then at the end of the day we announced the Star Baker, the Medi-yolker, and the Soggy Bottom! Star Baker was our Warehouse Team leader Juri, who made a tasty traditional Russian honey cake. His cake unfortunately didn’t want any paparazzi, but the real glamour number was the runner-up bake (technically the Medi-Yolker) - Lucy’s baked cheesecake. All of the cakes were fantastic, so the winner of the Soggy Bottom prize spoon received it graciously and all in good jest!

Lucy's lavish baked New York style cheesecake with feathering - 2nd place.

Prize spoons held and made by Customer Services Team Leader Rachel. She knows how to make a soggy bottom sparkle!

Our Office and Warehouse teams all came together to eat cake and drink tea in a very British manner! Of course, we only suffered the sugar comas in aid of charity, it’s not like we wish we could have a tea party everyday… But do you want to know what our favourite combination could possibly be?

...it’s ballet and bakes! If only Martin Kemp signing up for Celebrity Great British Bake Off meant that we’d be treated to some pirouettes and pies simultaneously! Alas, we think it’s still really cool that a member of Spandau Ballet has joined the Bake Off team in aid of charity, even if his band has nothing to do with dancing other than a few guitar moves.

Guess the Child

For our Children in Need fundraiser, we also got members of the team to bring in photos of themselves as a baby or child to play a game of “Guess the Child”. We wanted to do this to be in-keeping with the age group that our fundraiser was for, and for a bit of fun poking! We kept things interesting by throwing a few photos of the same person into the mix, but the majority of the team managed to guess correctly. The team even managed to dig out some old dance photos involving cringe ballet poses and outfits!

Our Copywriter, Liv, assembling the last few pics for the "Guess the Child" game.

Some questionable fashion choices throughout the 80's and 90's...

Where Do Our Children in Need Donations Go?

As you can see, we had an exciting and calorific day in honour of Children in Need, but something that’s really important to us here at Move Dancewear HQ is learning how our donations make a difference.

We’ve checked out the BBC’s Children in Need website to find out what projects they are supporting this year, and are pleased to discover some local ones to us in the North West. Click here to view the BBC’s list. You can also browse the website yourself to find out where your donations go locally and nationally.

We also visited the BBC’s Children in Need HQ and posed with Pudsey. Check out our marketing assistant, Lucy, with Pudsey!

One of the supported projects in the North West which we’re really keen on is Z-Arts. It’s loved by members of the team’s children for its fun and vibrant atmosphere. Z-Arts is a charity based in Manchester that encourages creativity and expressivity in the arts for children ages 0-13, with shows, dance classes and workshops open to all ages. We think it’s a really important project to make the Arts more accessible to children from all backgrounds, whilst being educational and fun!

Children in Need Appeal Show - 17th Nov 2017

Another BBC wonder that we are of course obsessed with is Stricly Come Dancing! Can you imagine our excitement when we found out that last year’s winner, Ore Oduba, is to simultaneously sing and dance on the live show? Not only that, but we’ve also got some other of Strictly’s cast treating us to some amazing dance routines on the live show. Tune in to see judge Craig Revel Horwood dance with the cast of Annie, and watch the airing of the Blue Peter former hosts competing in a Strictly Come Dancing style show. Want to know which hosts are performing? Click here.

Overall, our fundraising day really proved how much fun it is getting together to raise some money for a very deserving cause. It was fantastic all being together and allowing our various departments to spend more time together between packing, designing, emailing, and looking after your dance goodies! We really hope that our donation makes a difference to help children in need, and encourage you to get involved during the Live Show either by copying the dance moves or donating.

The Move Dancewear Team enjoying some cake together!