Do you want a new challenge in the new year? Learn to dance, release your inner Blu Hydrangea and come lip sync or dance. All to raise much needed funds for The Rainbow Project. Have fun, increase stamina and learn a new skill.

Just take the plunge and register below <3

You have probably heard of our famous Strictly Come Dancing style fundraisers, lets kick it up a bit shall we?  It is the all new: Strictly Come Lip Syncing, think of it as a fun cabaret style event, with a variety show aspect.

The Rainbow Project is Northern Ireland’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer, Intersex and/or Asexual support and advocacy organisation.  The Rainbow Project provides a range of services to LGBTQIA+ people across Northern Ireland including counselling, sexual health testing, befriending, support groups etc as well as campaigning for and advocating on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community in Northern Ireland.  

“We feel so lucky to have the Rainbow Project supporting us. At every twist & turn, they have been there for us – never underestimate the validity of a phone call for a person in need – to know someone is there for you supporting you all the way” – Advocacy Client of The Rainbow Project 

This fundraiser has been organised to help support the key work of The Rainbow Project in changing the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in Northern Ireland. We rely on the support of our community, partners, supporters and allies to deliver our services and support to the LGBTQIA+ community and your offer of support is greatly appreciated.  

“Chances are, if you are LGBTQIA+ and struggling in some way, Rainbow can probably help. Having personally benefited from the great services they offer I felt the time was right to give something back” – Kier, Volunteer, The Rainbow Project 

Strictly Dancing for The Rainbow Project 

Participants will need to be available for at least 8 of the rehearsal’s dates listed below for three-hour training sessions and be willing to put in the hard work and determination to make the event an experience to be remembered. Sonja will teach you one individual dance/performance plus a group dance. Each couple will be given their specially choreographed dance along with their music. 

Rehearsal dates will be for the following 10 Sunday rehearsals being held in our Head Office, 23-31 Waring Street, Belfast, BT1 2DX. There is limited space on each of the rehearsal’s and the correspond to your ‘half’ of the show, if you are Rehearsal A, you will be in the first half, if you are Rehearsal B, you will be in the second half. 

 Fundraising 

The Rainbow Project is grateful to each and every one of our dancers & performers for their support and commitment to ensuring that this fundraiser is successful. To ensure that the fundraiser raises funds we need to ask you for more. We are asking each of our dancers raises a minimum of £200 through sponsorship from your friends, family and supporters of The Rainbow Project. But don’t panic, you won’t have to do it alone, we are going to help you. Here’s what we commit to providing to support your fundraising efforts:  

• A JustGiving page where you can get online donations and increase the value of your donations by adding giftaid of 20% to donations you receive.  
• Sponsorship sheets, stickers, badges and other materials to support your fundraising.  
• A dedicated page on our website promoting the event, dancers, sponsors and fundraising pages.  
• A weekly social media update including video of rehearsals and testimonials by dancers increasing awareness of the event and your JustGiving page. 
• We will publish the result’s and publicise how much you helped to raise.  

In addition to sponsorship The Rainbow Project will also be seeking corporate sponsorship of £200 for each of our couples. We would be requesting your support to find a corporate supporter and if you know of any who may be interested.

The Event 

All the hard work put in by each of our dancers will culminate in The Strictly Come Dancing Fundraiser which will be held in the Hilton Hotel Belfast on 30th March 2024, 19:00 – Late. Dancers will be need to be at the venue by 16:00 pm to allow for a pre-show rehearsal. We ask that each performer sell’s 10 tickets to the event, so you have supporters there on the night. 

The Strictly Come Dancing aspect of the fundraiser will be judged and scored by our expert panel. However there is also an audience vote, each person will be give 2 vote’s. They can also purchase more votes on the night. The winning couple will receive our Strictly Come Dancing trophy which will be theirs to keep.  There will be a raffle on the night, to help enhance the fundraising efforts.

Contact us 

For more information, to register as a dancer or if you need to contact us for any other reason please contact The Rainbow Projects Business Development Manager Jayne on 028 9031 9030 or by contacting us via our form.