Shirley is taking part in the Race for Life – 14th June 2026!

Let’s hear about Shirley’s Race for Life journey…

Our wonderful Keep Dancing Shirley dancer, Shirley Epstein, turned 90 on 17th April 2026, and on June 14th she will be taking part in the Solihull Race for Life! We are so proud and want to drum up some Xpress-Yourself Dance noise to help raise awareness and sponsorships!

‘Race for Life is Cancer Research UK’s biggest series of fundraising events. We get people moving – and raising money for vital cancer research – all around the UK.’ To find out more about the race for life follow the link here About the Race for Life | Race for Life – Cancer Research UK

Here’s what Shirley has to say about her journey of taking part in the Race for Life for Cancer Research UK

I got involved about six years ago , can’t really remember why but as I worked in a big hospital “down South” before I came here dealing with cancer patients, the subject interested me and when a friend mentioned it to me, I was all for it!  I find the whole thing immensely exciting, whether as a 90 year old or when I was younger (early 80’s) and got a collecting box from CRUK (Cancer Research U.K.) which a dear friend decorated and personalised it for me.

Regarding the support given by other people,  friends & family, I find it fantastic and everyone is eager to sponsor me, to a greater or lesser degree, it really doesn’t matter.  We all know of someone who has been touched by this dreadful condition & everyone seems to want to be involved and help where they can.  They write little messages together with their sponsorship and honestly, if I believed even half of what gets written, I am just too fantastic for words! I take it all with a pinch of salt, as they say but it’s all very heartwarming, as you can imagine!

When I first started doing this,I was walking longer distances but wasn’t sure if I could do it as I got older but they brought in a lesser distance so that children could participate, i.e. 3 kg. which is probably about 2 1/2 miles.  I have always been keen on physical activities & thought that surely I could manage that!

I only hesitated because I had had a bad fall attending my eldest grandson’s wedding in Vienna & not recognising the word “slow” in my vocabulary, had  rushed to get something &  really went down with a thump!   I had recently started using a rollator/walker for any distances so considered using that, which is what I did, having first decorated it with balloons, etc.   

The distances are all measured out carefully and after some warm up exercises, we start off in Malvern Park, local to Solihull.There is always a good  turnout, with the entrants wearing the obligatory pink race t-shirts, with blurb pinned as to why they are doing it and off we  go!

I usually have my sons or grandsons to accompany me and usually meet some friends along the course, who turn out to wish me well, which is great!

The finish is in Mell Square, with a great big “FINISH” flying high and the last lap comes out at the side of St. Alphege Church,where the road is closed to traffic so that we can walk there if we so choose, which of course, I DO!  They can’t clear away until the last person has passed that “Finish” sign and last year, I was the last person as the going was tougher than the year before, owing to some bad  weather before,making the course a bit more difficult.

It was a lovely sunny Sunday, with people filling the restaurant and  the word got around that I was finally nearly there.  Well, I could hear them cheering me on and when I finally did that final lap, to great applause,I felt really emotional and a bit tearful!  We all get medals and I felt just  great having done it once again.  I raised about £1,400 for them, which I am very pleased about. It’s an experience I am delighted to have done over the past few years but really think NINETY is a good age to finish but wouldn ‘t have missed the experience for anything and feel I have done something really worthwhile!

Wow! What an amazing story from Shirley, all the team at Xpress Yourself Dance will certainly be cheering you on!

If you would like to donate to Shirley’s Race for Life, follow this link here Shirley90wow

Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC run weekly Keep Dancing classes, suitable for older adults across, Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Sandwell and online. Keep Dancing will teach you dances from around the world with no need for a dance partner. Find your nearest Keep Dancing class here.     

Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC also runs classes to support carers in Birmingham thanks to Funding from Forward Carers CIC. Find out more about our Keep Dancing for carers here

To find out more about Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC follow us on Facebook.     

Thank you for taking the time to read Shirley is taking part in the Race for Life – 14th June 2026! We can’t wait to see how she does!

Keep Dancing 💃