Dance therapy group receives £120,000 grant

An arts organisation in Chester has been awarded more than £120,000 to work with more people in addiction and mental health recovery.

Fallen Angels Dance Theatre will get the money from the National Lottery Community Fund over three years to run weekly community workshops.

Participants will be guided to explore their personal stories through movement by the Co-founder of the organisation, professional dancer Paul Bayes Kitcher, who is himself in recovery, 

Creative and Strategic Director Claire Morris, who founded the group alongside Kitcher, says the organisation's biggest challenge has been convincing people to give movement and dance a try.

She said: "There's a bit of a stigma around dance – that it's only for a certain type of person, or that you've got to be super fit or bendy to do it.

"And it's simply not true. Humans instinctively use their bodies to express how they're feeling, and dance is an extension of that.

"The social and mental health benefits of moving to music are so great, we would encourage anyone who is having doubts to just come along and give it a go."