Unsung Hero: Emily Holloway

A hospital employee by day and dance teacher by night, it’s fair to say that Emily Holloway is not a woman who shies away from a challenge. 

Constantly dedicating her time to improving the lives of others, the 29-year-old has been involved in countless charity and fundraising projects in the past alongside her two jobs, and in the summer of 2015 she decided to set herself the biggest challenge yet, all in the name of a cause that’s very close to her heart. 

While working as a communications officer at Southmead Hospital she began to notice that the hospital’s charity was not getting the support and recognition she felt it deserved. “I saw they were struggling a bit and knew I wanted to help,” says Emily.

“I think people shy away from giving to local hospitals at times because they feel they should be fully funded by the NHS, but Southmead Hospital Charity go above and beyond to improve the lives and wellbeing of patients and give them something to smile about – what could be more important than that?”

When Southmead Hospital Charity launched their Do Something Super for Southmead campaign last year, she knew it was time for a grand gesture.

“I decided to set myself a series of dance challenges that would push me to my limits and get lots of people involved and raising money. The plan was to do one a month for around 10 months – I’m about halfway through now.” 

Planning out ten different dance projects, all technically difficult and visually impressive in their own right, Emily set out to raise a target amount of £2,000.

Starting with a music video to Pharrell Williams’ Happy back in August, she has since organised a flash mob in Millennium Square, a mass performance of The Cup Song from Pitch Perfect and executed a flawless rendition of Beyonce’s Single Ladies.

“It’s interesting which of the challenges in particular spark people’s interest,” she muses. “After the Beyonce video went live the sponsorship started going crazy! I was glad because it was really quite tough to learn the full routine and the lyrics too. It was so much fun though.”

The professionally shot video of Emily, her younger sister Jo and friend Lizzie Murray strutting around a studio in little black leotards is undoubtedly the showstopper so far, but the performer has big plans for the final half of her ten-part dance-a-thon.

“I’m going to be doing a Tap Dogs style show complete with basketballs – which will be scary,” she admits. “Not as scary as the trapeze act, but at least I’m already in training for that.” 

She’s also planning to re-enact the final scene from eighties classic Dirty Dancing inside Southmead’s foyer – complete with the death-defying lift.

“My boyfriend is also a dancer so he’ll be playing the part of Patrick Swayze,” she laughs. “It’s handy because we have plenty of practice time, but it could also make or break the relationship!”

With almost £900 already raised, Emily is well on track to making a huge difference at the hospital, and she’s confident she’ll smash her target with what she’s got planned for the grand finale.

For her last dance challenge she hopes to get hundreds of people involved in a mass Zumba-thon, which she plans to teach on the green near the hospital in May of this year.

“I want as many people involved as possible so we can really give something substantial to Southmead and make a difference for the patients. It’s all about raising awareness and having fun – doing something good for yourself and others is a no-brainer really.”

For more information on how you can get involved in Emily’s next challenges, visit www.anybodycandancebristol.com