National Lottery winners hosted a glitzy Easter afternoon tea and dance for members of local Cardiff community group Elderfit, to welcome spring and celebrate the return of live dance sessions after the constraints of the last two years.
Elderfit is open to all and provides strength and balance improvement sessions across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Nearly 100 members – ranging in ages from 46 to 96, joined the Welsh National Lottery winners, to dance the afternoon away, after really missing human interaction and cancelled classes throughout the pandemic.
With a combined wealth of £15M, the winners gave up their time to help decorate the venue and to greet Elderfit members as they arrived for an afternoon of fun. The winners have been serving afternoon tea to their guests, partnering them on the dance floor and chatting with the members while enjoying the live band.
“The invitation from winners for this event has been a real highlight for our members,” says Gareth Bartlett, co-founder of Elderfit, which ran an online members programme during lockdown, featuring over 60 pre-recorded workouts.
Elderfit’s weekly Zoom class also attracted between 20-30 participants and Gareth said: “While Zoom had its benefits and was valuable to our members, there is nothing like getting out and about and interacting for improving mental, as well as physical health.”
In March this year, Elderfit was awarded a £343,000 National Lottery Community Fund grant, which will run over four years and will enable Gareth and co-founder and fellow fitness expert Tom Scaife, to take on full-time roles with the community interest group they established in 2015.
Although the main aim of the classes is to reduce the risk of falls, Elderfit also aims to strengthen participants’ upper body muscle so if a fall does happen, they will be more able to pull themselves back up.
And what better way to use the upper body than twirling and swirling around on a historic dance floor at the Coal Exchange Cardiff ?
The National Lottery winners included Chris and Geraldine Bradley from Carmarthen whose grandfather Bob won £3.6M in 2006, Nigel Willetts from Caerphilly who won £1M in 2014; Richard and Faye Davies from Brecon who won £1M in 2018 and Steve and Lesley Schiltz from Pontardawe, who had a £1M windfall on EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker in December 2019.
“We’ve all had such a lovely afternoon,” said lorry driver turned haulage boss, Steve. “We help with a few charities. We were lucky enough to have our win – I still can’t believe it, to be honest – so we’ve always been keen to try and pass on some of that luck for other people to enjoy.
“Lesley and I try to keep busy, as we’ve always worked hard and that’s good for mental health, so is being able to socialise again. The last two years have been hard for lots of people, so we’re always keen to get involved with community projects like this and to help out wherever we can.”
In 2012, Ian Pearce and husband Lyn Sexton scooped £1M on the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle. The Merthyr couple, who have relocated to New Quay, Ceredigion, were keen to lend a hand.
Ian said: “Getting out and about, seeing the good causes that players of The National Lottery help to fund is another bonus of being a National Lottery winner so it felt really good to be back in the community again.”
Elderfit member Hilary Moginie, aged 70, has been a member for five years, and said: “We have a fabulous class on a Monday morning that sets all of us for the week. We laugh a lot together and have all been looking forward to the tea dance as we have become friends as well as class devotees.
“The dance this afternoon is all anyone has been talking about for weeks. Over the last two years during Covid, we have missed each other’s company and now it’s like we’ve become long lost friends. Sadly my neighbour Margaret who attends a Monday afternoon class, is now unable to come as she’s not well.”
Gareth added: “Nurturing independence is a key element to our Elderfit sessions, so we can help people re-discover their confidence and stability. That has been difficult during lockdown, and today goes to show how keen everyone is on being able to enjoy themselves again. We don’t have extra funds left over for days out like this. We’ve all had a wonderful time.”
Elderfit has benefitted from National Lottery funding several times. The group was given £3,100 in November 2015 for Cardiff Falls Prevention Classes; £5,100 in February 2019 and £9,480 in May 2019, both for strength and balance classes. All grants were awarded through the Awards for All programme.
In 2016, Elderfit also won a public viewers vote to receive £47,480 through The National Lottery Community Fund, in conjunction with ITV. The funding was used to produce 2,000 home workout DVDs to enable those isolated or not quite confident enough to attend a class, to exercise at home. The free DVDs were distributed via Public Health Wales and Care and Repair, the service which helps older people in Wales to live independently in warm, safe, accessible homes.
The Coal Exchange Cardiff was the team of millionaires’ chosen venue for the nostalgic dance, as it’s where the first million pound deal in history was struck
and where the first million pound cheque was signed – way back in 1907, before the coal exporting Cardiff Docks were revitalised to become Cardiff Bay.
