Highland dancers have paid a special 100th birthday tribute to remarkable fundraiser Captain Tom Moore.
The veteran is preparing to celebrate his 100th birthday later this week with his NHS fundraising total now closing in on £30 million and a number one hit single to his credit after a duet with Michael Ball topped the charts.
As a thank you to the former Army officer, Robina Addison of the Gordon School of Dance in Montrose recruited her highland dancing pupils for a choreographed birthday message to the inspirational Yorkshireman.
The pupils danced to the You’ll Never Walk Alone song which has become the anthem for Captain Moore’s fundraising and brought him a Guinness World Records entry as the oldest person to have a UK number one.
The video has received a great response on social media, and a thumbs up from its birthday recipient after Captain Moore liked a Twitter clip of the choreography.
Robina, from Montrose, said: “The choreography idea was something which I set the girls every week to give them something to do and try to bring them together online, and it has been great.
“One of our dance mums, Frances Sanderson, from St Cyrus, said she would put all the clips together and it’s been a huge amount of work, but really worthwhile.
“We have also completed a physical birthday card for Captain Tom which has 128 smiles on it from all of the girls.
“He is just such an amazing character and we thought we wanted to send him a card, which is also an amazing memory for the dancers.”
Pupils from the Gordon School had been due to take part in New York’s Tartan Week earlier this month.
“It was to have been our first time there and we had 50 dancers going, so they are naturally disappointed, but we have already registered for next year,” Robina said.
The pupils also danced to Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero in one of their earlier routines as a thank you from the school to those on the NHS frontline.
Like many young sportspeople, highland dancers have been coming up with their own challenges to stay fit and have fun with each other during lockdown.
The sport’s major events have been wiped out, including the cancellation of the World Championships which are part of the Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon at the end of August and annually attract hundreds of participants from across the globe.
Scotland’s highland games season is also braced for a wipeout which will hit the country’s tourism economy to the tune of millions of pounds.
