Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dancing mission for Moray granny to help the deaf and blind during Covid-19 lockdown

Dorothy Bremner has been joined in filming her online videos by  Ann Hay, assistant community development officer with Health and Social Care Moray, pictured left, and neighbour Phyllis Campbell.
Dorothy Bremner has been joined in filming her online videos by Ann Hay, assistant community development officer with Health and Social Care Moray, pictured left, and neighbour Phyllis Campbell.

Dancing through lockdown has become more than just an exercise routine for a Moray grandmother on a mission to keep the north-east fit.

Dot Bremner, from Elgin, has boogied her way through the Covid-19 pandemic with a series of online videos to stay active while stuck at home.

The 82-year-old, who is partially sighted and almost completely deaf without a hearing aid, toured the region before the virus outbreak to run dance classes for over 60s and disability groups to raise money for charity North East Sensory Services (Ness).

Lockdown life has posed its challenges for the toe-tapping pensioner with video calls being particularly difficult due to her sight problems.

So, Mrs Bremner has set herself the challenge of dancing every day this month to raise money for Ness to support others facing the same issues.

Ann Hay, assistant community development officer with Health and Social Care, Moray, joins Dot Bremner for one of the dance routines.

She said: “I think people with sight and hearing problems have been doubly disadvantaged during Covid-19.

“Firstly, because they can’t seem to maintain social distancing. I struggle with depth perception. Guide dogs aren’t trained for it either. Lip reading and facial expressions are also difficult now too.

“I’ve also struggled with video calls because I can’t focus on the whole screen at the same time so it’s difficult for me to work out who’s talking.”

Mrs Bremner has been joined by friends Ann Hay and Phyllis Campbell for the daily back garden workouts – raising more than £1,000 for the charity so far.

Routines have included a Tartan Army special to cheer on Scotland ahead of their crucial football match against Serbia earlier this month.

Others have used tins of soup from the kitchen cupboard to work the muscles more while some routines have had a slower pace.

Mrs Hay, who helps coordinate the Ball (Be Active Life Long) groups Dot visits as part of her role with Health and Social Care Moray, said: “This has been a horrendous year for the groups because Dot herself is such a positive influence with her own sight and hearing issues.

“Doing the videos is a great way to encourage them to join in and keep going, even if some have told me they spend more time laughing than dancing.”

Donations to support Dot’s dancing mission can be made online at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dancercisewithdot or by texting DOT to 70085 to donate £5.