Pudsey Civic Hall: Elderly Leeds residents say taking away dance classes would be 'devastating' for community

Yorkshire Evening Post

Transcript

00:00 As part of significant cost saving measures, Leeds City Council has put up a civic hall for closure.

00:05 The community facility is frequently used for ballroom dance classes

00:09 and we attended one of their social events to speak with organiser Carol Hannan and the dancers

00:14 who shared their devastation at the prospect of losing the facility

00:17 and the impact it would have on their physical and mental health.

00:20 Yeah, I hold the dances here.

00:22 So I teach dance on a Monday evening from quarter to seven to half seven

00:26 and then it's followed by the social dance.

00:28 It would be such a shame to lose it because it's such a beautiful ballroom.

00:33 We don't have anything else like this in the north apart from, as far as I'm aware,

00:38 the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.

00:39 So, you know, to dance the dances that we do, the ballroom etc,

00:44 the sequence to progress around the room, you need a big ballroom

00:47 and they're slowly closing over the years.

00:49 So it'd be such a shame if we lost it.

00:51 And what does this mean for the people who come here and yourself?

00:57 There's the social side of it.

00:58 There's obviously the dancing that's important because they enjoy the dancing so much.

01:02 It's exercise for people.

01:04 There's lots of different ages but I've noticed there's people that are a little bit older

01:09 but it's exercise for them, light exercise.

01:12 It's good for the well-being.

01:14 It's good for the social side.

01:16 There's lots of people that sit and chat.

01:18 We have social dances here as well where people come and dance and chat.

01:22 We've got single dancers, that's called.

01:24 So it's a chance for them to catch up with other people and dance with them

01:29 and intermingle with different people.

01:31 So I travelled 18 miles to come here but it's one of the few large dance floors left for us in Yorkshire

01:39 without having to travel to Blackpool and some distance.

01:44 But here they teach and we're provided with social to meet people.

01:51 It's good for our health in the age group that choose to dance like this.

01:56 So we'd be really upset if this were to go.

02:00 I mean this is one of the best floors probably in Yorkshire.

02:03 It's one of the best attended dance floors there is.

02:07 It's got a fantastic venue.

02:09 It's really important for older people like us that need the exercise.

02:13 We need the mental exercise.

02:14 We need the social aspect of it all.

02:17 We're all gathering.

02:17 We're all friends here.

02:19 It's very important that we also get our money's worth out of the council tax

02:23 as well as everybody else.

02:25 We're paying in as everybody else is and I think we deserve to have our social space

02:30 where we enjoy dancing.

02:32 Quite a few people here tonight although it's not that busy really for here for Pudsey.

02:36 There's plenty of space and people can dance, they can exercise,

02:39 can get their brains going and they can also talk to each other and chat.

02:44 It's very important.

02:45 Absolutely. I mean I'm single so I live on my own.

02:49 And you know to come to a place like this on a Monday night or any night of the week

02:55 and it's just so good for you.

02:58 Yeah it makes you feel so much better alive and you know the first time I ever danced

03:03 I felt as if I'd been injected with life.

03:06 I mean that's the truth.

03:07 I said that to my friend when I got back in the car.

03:09 Yeah so what happened?

03:12 What was the first time that you came here and the first time that you danced?

03:16 The first time here, I mean it's just amazing.

03:18 It buzzes, you know it really buzzes on a Saturday night.

03:21 I come to this ballroom and I go to body jive and it just makes you feel much better.

03:27 And it's so much good exercise for you.

03:30 It keeps you fit and you make new friends.

03:34 You know it's a fantastic way of being sociable and healthy.

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