Charlotte Porter, alumna, puts in a great performance for the Swaledale Scout Group!

We were delighted to hear that Charlotte Porter, alumna, was a guest speaker for the Swaledale Scout Group, of which some of our students are members. Charlotte runs her own award-winning dance school, the Charlotte Jacqueline School of Dance, at The Station in Richmond. She talked about her journey into dance, starting at 10 years old, late for many, being inspired by Mrs Seymour, the local dance teacher, dancing in Germany and then working in France before returning home and eventually setting up her business. Charlotte also talked about pushing herself outside her comfort zone by joining the Mountain Rescue and being one of the youngest in the organisation, along with Chris Curry, another of our former students.

Charlotte said: “It was wonderful to speak with the Swaledale Scouts! It is so lovely to see so many of them interested in both the arts and also being involved in their community! We chatted about what life was like as a professional performer, living abroad and what the training included. Many also wanted to know about volunteering with the Mountain Rescue and it was lovely to see that lots of them would love to volunteer when they are older. Scouts is such a wonderful organisation, and we owe our initial dance school set up to the Richmond Scouts for allowing us to hire their Scout Hut on Quakers Lane. It was also great to see some of them involved in and supporting other local clubs.”

Richard Tarran, leader of the Swaledale Scout Group said: “Thank you so much to Charlotte for giving up her time to be our guest speaker. She brought energy, zest, enthusiasm, positivity and inspiration to Swaledale’s Monday evening Scout meeting.”

The Swaledale Scout Group are looking for an assistant, over 18 years old, to help with their meetings. If anyone would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact Richard Tarran on richtarran@aol.com or 07866 410616.  It is a great voluntary role and would be ideal for anyone looking to fulfil their Duke of Edinburgh service element.

There are currently 11 Scouts in the Swaledale Troop (10 ½ up to 14 ½ years old). There is also a Beaver Colony (5 ¾ up to 8 ½ years) and a Cub Pack (8 to 10 ½ years).