Social Eyes to Boogie to Buckingham Palace for Jubilee

A group of adults with learning disabilities are putting on their dancing shoes to boogie all the way to ‘Buckingham Palace’ for a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee-themed fundraiser.

The Rotherham-based community group Social Eyes’ merry dance will see them complete an incredible 500,000 steps – the approximate distance in steps to Buckingham Palace –  ahead of Her Majesty’s milestone celebration in June.

Each week the 12-strong group will be strutting their stuff as they get closer and closer to their 500,000 step target, and all while raising funds for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

Eager members of Social Eyes have already jigged the equivalent distance of a fifth of the way to the Queen’s famous residence.

Chelsea Jubb, Social Eyes Shopfloor Leader, said: “Our group absolutely love a party and they love to dance, so this seemed like the perfect challenge with the Queen’s Jubilee approaching.

“All credit to our fantastic group who’ve taken to the fundraiser with such enthusiasm. They’ve just started writing a letter to Her Majesty the Queen too to tell her all about it.”

Social Eyes, which is a day service for adults with mild and moderate learning disabilities and autism, is always keen to give something back to the community.

“We’re coming up to our sixth birthday and over the years we’ve always been fantastically well supported by the community, so after speaking to the staff team and service users, they really wanted to do something to give back,” said Chelsea, who started off as a volunteer at Social Eyes before joining the team.

“Our group have set themselves some goals and as part of this they will be supporting and raising funds for different local causes each year. This time they really wanted to support children and one of our staff members who used to work at Bluebell Wood made the suggestion – and we all thought it was all perfect.”

Social Eyes will be celebrating their achievement with a big Jubilee party in June, and Chelsea promises there will be plenty of cake. With a bit of luck, they may even get a letter from the Queen to celebrate their efforts!

Jason Gossop, Regional Fundraiser at Bluebell Wood, said: “We absolutely love Social Eyes ‘Boogie to Buckingham Palace’ challenge and we can’t thank the group enough for lending their support to Bluebell Wood.

“Social Eyes is an amazing and important local service so it really is humbling that they’ve chosen to support us in this way.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to the service users, staff, parents and carers and everyone who’s made this wonderful challenge possible. We’ll see you at Buckingham Palace for cake and afternoon tea!”