Strictly Stars Salute 91-Year-Old Dancer Raising Funds for Help for Heroes

The heartwarming dances of 91-year-old Irene Slavinski, who lives in Cheadle Hulme with her daughter Jeannette, have been noticed by Strictly Come Dancing stars, JJ Chalmers and Amy Dowden, who are incorporating one of Irene’s dance moves into a series of live online dance classes they are hosting for Help for Heroes at the end of March.

Irene, who has dementia, became an internet sensation at the end of last year after putting on a tutu and dancing to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Suite to raise funds for Dementia UK. Having smashed her fundraising target of £1,000, she has now decided to dance to raise money for Help for Heroes and hopes to raise the same amount. To donate to Irene’s Help for Heroes dancing fundraiser visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/IreneSlavinski.

Dance has been a big part of Irene’s life since she was young when she worked in the Cumberland Bar at the famous Belle Vue leisure centre in Manchester. The complex had a ballroom which had big band dance nights. Irene and her husband, Peter Slaven, loved nothing more than spinning around the dancefloor and won lots of dancing trophies and certificates. They also imbued a love for dance among their three children.

The reason for Irene choosing the military charity as her next cause to dance for is because Peter was a sergeant in the Royal Artillery and the Lancashire Fusiliers. In addition, her daughter, Jeannette Slavinski, has been a long-time supporter of Help for Heroes, having launched several reality poetry books to raise funds for the charity, with the Queen, Prince Harry and actor Timothy West CBE all applauding her for her works.

It's been a difficult year for Irene who battled sepsis at the beginning of 2020 and was then diagnosed with dementia just before the first lockdown. Jeannette explains, “It’s been hard throughout the lockdowns as mum is much happier when she’s busy but there hasn’t been much to do. As a poet I know the importance of creativity in keeping people active in mind and body. So, we’ve read poetry, baked cakes and, above all, we’ve danced.  We dance every single day.”

For her Help for Heroes fundraiser Irene chose to dance to Christina Aguilera’s Candyman and she was wearing her famous tutu along with her husband’s military medals in his honour. She learned how to do a military salute for this dance and it is this move that Amy Dowden and JJ Chalmers will be incorporating into their dance classes in her honour.

The Strictly Quarter-Finalists’ Help for Heroes dance lessons will be at 6pm on Wednesday 31 March and Wednesday 7 April as Instagram live broadcasts on the charity’s @HelpforHeroes Instagram account and will be shared on the @HelpforHeroesOfficial Facebook account afterwards. The two lessons will build on each other, so that by the end people will be able to dance the Cha Cha Cha.

With sport already being a big part of recovery for many of the wounded veterans that Help for Heroes supports, and with former Royal Marine JJ being an active supporter of the charity having received their help since his injuries sustained in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, the charity is excited to explore the power of dance for mental and physical wellbeing.

The classes are open to anyone and the moves have been choreographed to be as inclusive as possible, including adaptive moves for people in wheelchairs and with other forms of disability.

Amy Dowden says, “JJ and I have loved watching Irene’s dancing. She is an absolute inspiration and she demonstrates so well the massive benefits that dance brings to mental and physical health. The fact that she’s also using dance to raise money for Help for Heroes in memory of her husband Peter and the great times they spent together on the dance floor just makes her story even more wonderful.

“We felt that the least we could do is incorporate one of her moves into our class and we will be giving her a shout out in the classes too. I hope she will inspire many others to experience what dancing can do for them by joining us on 31 March.”

Irene and Jeannette are huge Strictly fans who followed Amy and JJ’s journey avidly and they will be taking part in the Help for Heroes dance classes too.

Carole Groves, National Senior Fundraising Manager at Help for Heroes adds, “Irene is a superstar. Seeing her dance to raise funds for wounded veterans while wearing her husband Peter’s medals is an absolute joy. We would like to thank Irene and her daughter, Jeannette, for doing this for Help for Heroes as the past 12 months have been tougher than ever for veterans living with a life-changing injury or illness. Their support will help us to give veterans the strength they need to live the lives they deserve.”