10 Apr Flashmob is back for Carnival and Baton of Hope

The Torbay Communities’ Flashmob will be back this summer, celebrating the return of the full route of the Spinning Wheel Paignton Carnival on Wednesday, 30^th July. We will be starting on Paignton Green and ending with our last performance at the Torbay Baton of Hope Celebration on the last day of September. Please come and join us for this exciting opportunity to dress up and have fun learning an easy, inclusive, accessible dance routine to perform on the Paignton Carnival route and at the Torbay Baton of Hope. See our Facebook page ‘Torbay Flash Mob’ for more information about rehearsals, routines, performance venues, dates and times. You can also contact Marianne at 07469660875 or at [email protected] to find out more. We usually spend around an hour learning and rehearsing the dance moves with our brilliant dance leader, Anne George, near the performance location. Then we take a half-hour break before we perform the routine together and follow Anne leading the performance in front of us. You can also practise the dance at home by following the routine with the music online.

Around 20 people are dying by suicide each year in Torbay, and three out of four are men.  On Tuesday, September 30^th, the Baton of Hope is coming to Torbay, and one hundred Baton bearers, who have been affected by suicide, will be carrying the Baton of Hope around Torbay along routes in Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. People will carry the baton at a steady walking pace for between 200 and 500 metres before passing it on to the next person. There will be events and activities along the way and an entertainment celebration event at the end. You can volunteer to steward on the day and support this opportunity to honour lives lost to suicide, raise awareness and spark conversations to help prevent suicide in Torbay. The ‘Baton of Hope Torbay’ Facebook page will be sharing more information as plans progress and is where you can also find out about free Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training – an invaluable two-day course in Brixham that might help you to save the life of someone close to you one day.