FRIDAY 3rd May marked the start of some major fundraising for @womenVcancer.

Tracie Gunningham, Lynda Penny and Zayli Gunningham hosted an Audrey & Elvis fundraiser at the Plymouth Venue (Plymouth’s up and coming function space used for weddings and parties)

PPT

All guests were encouraged to come dressed as a version of ‘Audrey or Elvis’ the guests didn’t disappoint!! Everyone who attended made an outstanding effort helping ‘set the scene’ and adding to the various themed props which were dotted around the venue.

The evening started with welcome drinks supplied by Plymouth Gin, followed by Marks Summers as Elvis who had the guests up dancing, working up an appetite ready for the gastronomic American themed buffet .

The food was plentiful and very tasty!!

The doughnut wall was the perfect ‘help yourself’ pudding supplied by Edible Essence an award winning cake decorator and supplier.

The guests had the option to enter the raffle for £5 and the total raised was £275.

Tracie Gunningham publicly thanked the local companies and friends for their generous support and donations. Listed as below.

Welcome drink - Plymouth Gin

Table runners and candelabras - Vanda and Bill

Cupcakes - Helen Brann

Doughnut wall - Edible Essence

Car prop - Kevan Kennedy

Slow cookers - Heather Nail, Sharon Everson, Claire Felton, Helen

Hot plate - Egi Tracey Rebeiro

Silverware - Egi

Chocolate Lollies- Annemarie West

Guitars-John Penny

Design- Ian Gunningham

Prop making - Zayli Gunningham

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED A RAFFLE PRIZE FOR OUR EVENT

TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES TAKEN ON THE NIGHT BY HAWK EYE PHOTOGRAPHY

Everyone had a super time.. but the night was yet young. No time to sit down.. time to ‘rock n roll’ Kevan Kennedy and Julie baker from the Lemonfrog dance company delivered a basic ‘jive’ lesson.. it was so much fun and EVERYONE was smiling and wondering at their new found skill.

The guest then spent the evening dancing to party tunes.

A donation of 50 breakfast at Tiffany themed cupcakes were made and donated by Helen Brann (a good friend of Tracie’s) and displayed on a stand, loaned from Drake’s jewellers.

The cupcake toppers were all hand-cut out by Tracie’s lifelong friend Annemarie West..

making these a great little ‘take home’ gift.

The total profit raised and donated to the charity totalled £1365.

The ‘Thailand Trio’ are ‘ecstatic’ with the success of their first event.

Just wanted to share just one of the lovely messages we received after the event.

Hi Tracey, I'd just like to say that.......Your Charity event was absolutely incredible! ..You all created THE Most perfect evening on Saturday .. what with the decor, buffet, your guests were lovely, so friendly & fun...& Mark as Elvis, mingling on the dance floor! Wow! ...an amazing combination of Elvis Presley & Audrey Hepburn! ..there wasn't one lady in the room who didn't imagine they were the real Audrey!! Haha .. admittedly I felt her spirit too! You looked fabulous.....I wish you all the very best in your fundraising in the future, & I hope there will be more events like that one in the future too.. I'm not on facebook but I wanted to tell you how Matthew & I so enjoyed the experience,....and tell your husband, for me to win the best prize in the raffle was amazing too...the toolkit!!! Haha ...thankyou ..

FUTURE FUND RAISING EVENTS

PUB QUIZ on Saturday 14th September at 7pm. It’s being held at The Fortesque Pub on Mutley Plain.

TICKETS £10 more info here https://www.facebook.com/events/2574843772742254/

SILENT DISCO on Saturday 5th October at 7pm . The Plymouth Venue, Victoria House, Peverell.

TICKETS £15 more info here https://www.facebook.com/events/1167252536770694/

Tracie started her dance journey on the 24th of February 2017, after being volunteered by Shelley Coleman, to perform a ‘strictly style’ dance routine in front of 300 people for Plymouth Ladies Club Charity.

Her partner was the owner of the Lemon Frog Dance Company, Kevan Kennedy.

Her first lesson was an initial assessment, to see whether she had any natural dance ability, and more to her horror, to see whether or not, she could be lifted!
The first few weeks consisted of working out the routine, timing to the music and the likes and dislikes of certain moves. Tracie soon learnt that even the basic moves were going to be a lot harder to learn than initially thought.
To help speed up her learning, she enrolled on group dance lessons at the Lemon Frog, that included Salsa and Tango.
Ten weeks on from her first dance lesson, she had lost over a stone in weight and dropped a dress size, due to increased exercise and the thought of performing in front of 300 people.

Tracie was really starting to struggle with nerves at this stage too and enlisted the help of a mindfulness coach, Jackie Taylor.
Jackie taught Tracie some techniques to help calm her nerves and keep the anxiety under control. Techniques such as meditation, visualisation, mindful pauses and anchoring to name a few.

THE BTS VIDEO 'IN TRAINING'.

Take a look at Tracie's personal reflection in this short video below.

DRESS REHEARSAL AT THE LEMON FROG DANCE COMPANY

photographs By Emma Barrow.

Weekly sessions with Kevan and Jackie, led to a 'runner up' placement at The Plymouth Ladies Charity Club Strictly Come Dancing Ball.

Tracie said 'I didn't expect to win, however I achieved my goal, I performed my routine from start to finish, I was composed and confident, I was happy with my performance'.

Kevan at The Lemon Frog, choreographed the dance, took Tracie from a non dancer to a dancer.

Tracie said 'he’s an amazing teacher and has made the lessons fun and enjoyable, but above all he has been patient and encouraging'.

The evening was well attended.

Tracie and Kevan received lots of encouragement from family, friends, the ‘Envy Team’, clients and Lemon Frog members who all came along to support the charity.