The Lurgan man who held a 10-hour danceathon to raise money to build a school in memory of his mum has raised so much that two schools will now be built!
James McGrath, a teacher at JivinGym, had originally hoped to raise around £34,500 with his ‘Dance for Lucy’ event in memory of his mum Lucia, who sadly passed away from Alzheimer’s and Dementia at the age of 60.
The event was held on June 29, at the Glencarn Hotel in Castleblayney, and, against all odds, James managed to raise an incredible £78,448, more than enough for two schools – with a bit left over for charity.
The night saw over 2,000 walk through the doors, with there being 600 on the dance floor at one stage of the night.
The bulk of money will go to the Adsum Foundation, a Belfast-based charity that supports communities in Madagascar, who will begin the process towards building the schools.
The initial plans were to raise the money to build ‘Saint Lucia’s’, named after James’ mum – a four-classroom school in Madagascar, with chairs and tables for the children alongside a well to provide access to clean water.
It’s hoped that the second school to be built will be named ‘Saint Thomas’s’, after James’ dad.
He’s still alive but he’s taught me so many things,” James said. “I learned a lot from them so I thought it would be fitting to name the schools after my parents.
“He doesn’t know yet so it’ll be a surprise!”
Four other charities will benefit from the remaining funds. These are: the Children’s Heart Foundation in Belfast, an Alzheimer’s Society in Monaghan, the Holy Family School in Cavan and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie National Children’s Cancer Charity in Dublin.
Read more: Lurgan man in ten-hour ‘danceathon’ to build African school in memory of mum
Speaking to Armagh I after the event, James spoke of his disbelief at the amount of money raised.
“We were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of support and the volume of people that came out to help us on the day. It was phenomenal. We didn’t anticipate the amount of money that we would raise, or that we’d double our initial target.
Despite the challenges of the event, James says the “buzz” in the room and the memory of his mum kept him going.
James with his wife Hannah
“It was a 14-hour danceathon and I personally danced 12 hours in the one day. I very rarely stopped, only for a few breaks to go to the toilet. I just felt the energy of the room and the encouragement of the people. The word I would use is epic.
“Everything we were doing on the day was all from love and support. A lot of people were calling it the ‘dance of the decade’ and had never seen anything like it.
“We even had a special guest appearance from Derek Ryan, so there was never a dull moment!”
He continued: “Throughout it I was crying tears of joy, especially when my father and my sisters and brother walked in. It was just a surreal feeling that we were able to achieve this on a bigger scale than we thought.”
James is keen to stress the community effort of the day, and how so many people chipped in to help raise so much money.
He said: “A big shout out to the team behind the scenes. It wasn’t just me it was a collective of people who rallied together.
“We had 250 sponsored dancers and their target was to raise £100. Some of them were raising £1,500 individually and a seven-year-old boy even raised £1,000.
“There’s no words in the dictionary to even express the love and support we have from people, it was just surreal.
“People were very consistent and a lot of people stayed all day – dancing from 11 in the morning to 1am the next morning. Some of the guys had to change their shirts five or six times!”
Added James: “We blew it out of the park and it’s all down to the Irish Country fan base who came along to support us.”
The event was made even more special by the fact that not long after all was said and done, James’ wife gave birth to a baby girl on July 24.
“My wife was pregnant throughout the organising process,” he said. “My first dance was with my wife and we had a brilliant time.
“Our baby actually stops crying when she hears Irish country music so she obviously had been hearing it for 14 hours!”
