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.

£10,000 for charity and 100 miles per week: Meet the dancing Elgin gran on a mission to keep the north-east fit

Dancing Dot Bremner has been running online fitness classes for older people and those with less mobility during lockdown. She has raised £10,000 for charity. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson
Dancing Dot Bremner has been running online fitness classes for older people and those with less mobility during lockdown. She has raised £10,000 for charity. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

An Elgin dancing gran has raised more than £10,000 through her keep fit dance sessions.

Dot Bremner, who is partially sighted and suffers from hearing loss, raised the money for North East Sensory Services (Ness) over the past five years.

The grandmother-of-four travels almost 100 miles a week to teach the over-60s and people with learning difficulties and mobility issues.

She has given £10,010 to the charity.

The 84-year-old works with local health services and visits Be Active Life Long (Ball) and Sing Exercise and Tea (Set) groups across Moray.

Dancing Dot. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

Since April 2018, the retired administration worker has been raising funds for the charity through her dancercise classes.

Dot became a fitness instructor at the age of 75 when she returned to education.

She is a lifelong dancer and choregraphs her own routines including the Drunken Cowboy’s Pub Crawl, the Cheating Charleston, and the Football Hooligan Dance.

During Covid restrictions, Dot entertained people from around the world with an online series of videos filmed in her back garden.

How has the charity helped Dot?

Ness supports thousands of people with visual and hearing impairments across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Moray and Angus.

The charity’s main objective is to help people with sight or hearing loss live as independently as possible.

In Dot’s case, Ness trained her in the use of a ‘long cane’ and helped with fitting a vibrating smoke alarm under her pillow and special lighting in her home.

Dorothy Bremner (Dot) and Ann Hay (assistant community development officer with Health & Social Care, Moray)<br />Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

Dot, who lives with 95-year-old husband Jim, said: “I’m over the moon with what we have achieved with the dancercise classes and really pleased to have raised so much money.

“Ness has given me invaluable support and I’m glad I’ve been able to give something back.

“I’m doing two classes a week and find it immensely rewarding.

“I’ve always danced. I think I was dancing in the pram.”

Dot Bremner is delighted with the money raised. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

She is always up for trying out different type of dances.

She added: “I’ve tried all kinds. Highland, ballet, Scottish country, Latin American – even pole dancing at one stage.

“It gives me a repertoire to work on and its fun coming up with the routines.

“People don’t realise they are exercising when they are enjoying themselves.

“I’ll never stop. It’s vital to keep ourselves going and stay active as long as we can because that’s what makes life fun.”

Dancing granny Dot Bremner has previously raised money for the North East Sensory Services. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

‘She is an incredible lady’

Graham Findlay, chief executive of Ness, said: “Dot is an incredible lady, not only for her fundraising achievements but for her zest for life to help keep others active.

“We are extremely grateful for all the money she has raised, which has helped our work in supporting people of all ages with sensory loss or impairment to live as independent a life as possible.

“Our sincere thanks go to Dot and all the members of the Moray BALL and SET Groups.”

Are you interested in all the latest news and updates from Elgin? If so, why not join our new Facebook group.

Conversation