Church runs free street dance lessons for inner-city kids

A church in Portsmouth is offering free street dancing lessons for children in the city's Somerstown area.

The street dance lessons are being run at St Peter's Church on Somers Road for six to 14-year-olds.

The children are signed up for a five-week taster course that is being subsidised by the church as part of its outreach to the local area.

Half the group of 15 children come from the church and the other half from the Somerstown Adventure Playground, which is supporting the initiative.

After the course is over, the most committed children will form a new dance crew that will perform in Guildhall Square on 15 July as part of the celebrations welcoming the Olympic torch to the city.

They will also perform on 29 July during a Sunday morning service at St Peter’s.

Street dancer Connie Sneddon, 9, said: “It’s really good. We learn really cool moves and I practice at home. It’s good doing it in the church, because the church is really big.”

Carly-Ann Purcell, who runs Portsmouth Dance Academy, has organised the street dance lessons, and is now basing her academy within St Peter’s Church.

"I met two members of the congregation who were passionate about doing something to help the local community, and I am too," she said.

"I’m now basing myself at St Peter’s as it’s a great place to be.”

The dance lessons started after St Peter’s Parochial Church Council decided that its three main priorities would be the spiritual renewal of the current congregation, serving those most in need in the Somerstown community, and working jointly with St Luke’s Church, which also serves the Somerstown area.

Among the other activities that are planned or have already started are a mums and toddlers group, a children’s holiday club, students' barbecue, adult learning services, and the redevelopment of wasteland next to the church into a garden space.

The Rev Alex Hughes, vicar of both St Peter’s and St Luke’s, said: “The underlying mission priority is that the church focuses on being the church, staying close to their roots in prayer, worship, building community and serving the needs of those who live locally.

“Our commitment is to care for the people who live and work in this area, sharing God’s love with them and helping to meet their needs.”