Justine Dodd, one half of the talented duo at Cariad Glass raised just under £2,000 for the National Autistic Society boogie-ing to classic disco tracks for seven hours.
It was her way of saying thank you to those who have supported their family whilst managing autism plus an early celebration of Justine’s 50th birthday later this year.
On the sunniest day of Easter weekend, Justine, her hubby Chris and a team of good friend helpers created a truly interactive experience via MixCloud, Facebook and Zoom from 12pm to 7pm.
Justine danced from her summerhouse at the bottom of the garden (along with others remotely) to a virtual disco hosted by Branwen Munn from Goldhill Disco.
Following the event, Justine shared her gratitude to all involved,
“Massive, heartfelt thanks to EVERYONE who had donated, I just can’t thank you enough! A huge, glittery, ginormous THANK YOU to Branwen from GoldHill Disco who did the most incredible job on tech, mixing, DJ ing, sharing, graphics, dancing and supporting me on this mammoth undertaking… I just can’t thank you enough for your massive contribution!
Special thanks to Dawn for dancing each and every step along with me from beginning to end, and to Suzanne and Winston for keeping things ticking along fabulously too! To everyone on the Zoom who made it even more fun… Lizzie, Semele, Keith, Emma, Jenny and a special guest appearance from Mabel, amongst others… you ROCKED!!!
Fabulous catering from Joan and Peter too, what a treat to have gorgeous food outside under the stars. And finally, big, big, big love and thank you to Chris for running all the tech at our end, disco lights, fog machine, laser, sparkly bits AND social media… and to Tom, Ben and Hattie for being my inspiration xxx”
Read Justine’s story to understand what inspired her…
“I’m Justine, a stained glass artist living and working in West Wales with my husband Chris.
We have three fabulous children, with our eldest diagnosed with autism at nine years old, and our youngest very newly diagnosed in 2020, right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic!
Seeing the struggles that our children face is tough – all three of them are wonderful, caring, funny and very bright and so it is heartbreaking to see them stumble in life with setbacks such as anxiety, depression, sensory difficulties, loneliness and feelings of helplessness.
Our eldest has suffered from meltdowns, which have been extremely debilitating and really upsetting to witness, and all five of us as a family have been affected by the challenges autism brings.
I’ve decided to do a seven hour danceathon for a couple of reasons – I LOVE dancing, and during lockdown have really missed the opportunity to get out for a good old, stress-busting boogie!
Secondly – I turn 50 this year, and so what better way to celebrate than to do something fun and different, and all whilst raising money for an extremely worthwhile cause at a time when the world is an even more uncertain, scary and troubling place to be growing up…with or without the additional challenge of autism!
We would not have made it through our challenges without the incredible support of friends and also some of the care teams and health professionals who have helped us along the way – thank you all, diolch yn fawr.”
If this story resonates with you and you’d like to contribute to this worthy cause, you can donate to the National Autistic Society through her fundraising page.
