A JIVE enthusiast from York is planning to take part in a 12-hour ‘jiveathon’ for a cancer charity in memory of a close friend who died from secondary breast cancer.
Josiane Gower, 62, from the Bishopthorpe Road area, has been doing the modern jive for 12 years, dancing regularly at local venues such as the Riley Smith Hall in Tadcaster and the Engine Shed in Wetherby.
She frequently goes away on dance weekends elsewhere in the UK, attended by many hundreds of dancers from all over the country.
Now she is planning to join a group of fellow jive enthusiasts in Oxford on June 23 to dance for 12 consecutive hours, with a break of 15 minutes each hour.
She has already raised £395 towards her £500 target, with all the money going to the charity Against Breast Cancer to help other women with the disease.
Josiane has been inspired to take part in the event by the death in 2016 of her friend Sue Matthews, who worked as chief librarian at The Press from 1989 until 2002 and then as Prison, Children & Young People’s Librarian at City of York Council.
Sue’s husband Mark said she worked in that job to promote literacy, social skills and raising people’s self-esteem,
He said that amongst her many York community-related voluntary activities, she also served as treasurer/secretary of Dringhouses' After-School Association, City of York Council’s Cansing Choir and the All Seasons Orchestra.
He added that Sue retired from her work at the council through ill health, following a secondary breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, and died in her mid-50s.
Organisers of the jiveathon said its total fundraising target was £50,000, adding: “Sadly most of our lives have been touched in some way by this dreadful disease but thanks to the work of the medical professionals, supported by cancer charities and research by Against Breast Cancer in particular, most woman -and some men - with the disease survive and lead normal, happy lives.
“However, there is much more work to be done.”
To sponsor Josiane, go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/josianegower1
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