Waltzing his way through the night, Ross raises funds for Hope House

Dressed in a Mad Hatter costume, dance teacher Ross, from Market Drayton, waltzed, quickstepped and tangoed across his lounge carpet for 24 hours in the charity Danceathon.

He said hearing how the money he raised would help the children who used Hope House and their families had helped him through his exhaustion.

The owner of Step by Step Dance Instruction, Ross said he had had to cancel its event, Strictly Shropshire this year, which last year raised over £11,000 for Hope House.

"So to mark the one year anniversary of the event, I decided to do a 24-hour danceathon," he said.

Speaking as he reached the final few minutes of his gruelling challenge, Ross said that the worse times had been between 1am and-4am and between 9am and 11am on Monday.

"There was a time when I just wanted to sit down on the sofa and not get up again," he said.

But he said that a call from Simi Epstein, from Hope House, had helped him carry on.

"She told me just how much Hope House means to the children and youth people and their families and that how the money we raised would be put to use," he said.

"Yes, I am really aching and ye,s I haven't slept for 30 hours, but when you speak to Simi you release that this is bigger than you. I am so grateful for all the messages of support that I had and to everyone who has donated."

Ross had set his fundraising target at £500 but as he finshed he had reached £1,320.

There is still time to donation to the Danceathon via justgiving.com/fundraising/ross-millar7