Our vision at Hip Hop to Help is clear; we aim to provide everybody, from all backgrounds, the opportunity to learn to, and enjoy, dance.
Our core objectives are:
Make a positive impact in society by providing free and accessible dance classes to all, building a strong community along the way.
Change the lives of young people and enable social mobility through dance, scholarships and working with schools, councils and youth clubs.
Focus on building lasting relationships and partnerships, working with professionals and the third sector for corporate, studio and sports club events.
We provide dance classes for everybody, and we want you to leave with a smile on your face. Hip Hop to Help has grown through a love of dance and helping others, and hard work from our volunteers. Check out our promotional video below to find out more about how we started and what we do!
Thank you for your interest in our charity. I hope to see you at class soon.
Love,
Amber-Louise Pocklington
Founder and CEO
Success Stories
We’ve currently raised over £3000 for charity!
Below are some of our success stories
2020: Hip Hop to Help Yearly Review
This video sums up our 2020 community impact. We are so grateful for everyone’s support and we hope we have kept you all smiling and dancing.
Lockdown Classes
“I watched a Hip Hop to Help virtual dance class and it inspired me to start learning to dance. I love it, such a good idea especially with everyone being at home now.”
2020 has been an extremely difficult time for everybody. Hip Hop to Help wanted to continue providing dance classes for all, and raising money for causes. So we took on the challenge and started virtual classes live from Instagram and Zoom. We put on over 20 virtual dance classes with different guest dance teachers around the world, we grew our following and impact and we raised over £600 for charities such as Age UK, BLM, Compliments of the House, National Autistic Society and Mind. We will continue putting on virtual classes for accessibility, and we are so grateful for the wonderful and supportive dance community we have.
LWS Night Shelter
£403 Raised
Our first charity we raised money for was LWS Night Shelter, as Amber had volunteered there before and witnessed first-hand the brilliant work they do. In 2017, at the end of her second year at University, Amber decided to put on three free dance classes to raise money for LWS through optional donations, paying for studio hire out of her own pocket. The classes were a hit and many people of all ages attended. £303 was raised for LWS Night Shelter.
Amber then took this idea of free dance classes and developed it, coming back in 2018-19 with the branding and business plan for Hip Hop to Help. In February 2019, a new charity of the month scheme was implemented. To honour the beginning of the social enterprise, the first charity chosen was LWS Night Shelter. Classes were held in the Leamington area and at University of Warwick, and a further £100 was raised for the shelter.
“A gigantic THANK YOU to Hip Hop to Help who raised an incredible £303 for the shelter. We are so grateful that you chose us as your cause, the photos look like so much fun!”
Finham Primary School
“This is a treat for the children that you have come in. Thank you!”
Hip Hop to Help aims to give all people from all backgrounds the opportunity to learn to, and enjoy, dance. Our work in the community has a greater impact as we attend schools each week to teach dance classes during lunchtime or after school for free. One school Amber taught at in 2018-19 was Finham Primary School.
Every Wednesday lunchtime, a hip hop dance class was held for the Year 4-6’s. They loved it, and even entered a dance competition! Every week a new routine was taught, and towards the end of the year teaching the children began to make up their own routines. Their confidence and dance skills improved so much, and Amber loved teaching them each week.
If you would like classes in your school, please go to our contact page and send us an email. All of our volunteers are DBS checked. We would love to hear from you!
The Gap Community Centre Youth Club
The Gap Community Centre was the first youth club we attended to teach Hip Hop to Help classes. We were asked to teach a 6 week course of dance classes for the children, with a performance for parents at the end of the course.
We taught for 2 hours every Wednesday evening. A variety of dance routines were taught by Amber and Louise each week, as well as a warm up and warm down, breakdancing skills and games to keep the children focused whilst developing their dancing.
The performance for parents was a success. We also provided the children with a trophy and medal to recognise their hard work.
Classes were free, however The Gap charged £2 a session which went back into the youth club. We raised a considerable amount through our classes for The Gap Community Centre.
“Well done - the parents loved it and the children were buzzing afterwards! Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work with them”
University of Warwick x Warwick Devils Campus Classes
“Amber is an extremely hard worker and I am lucky to say that I have had the pleasure of working with her and Hip Hop to Help closely for the past year.”
Throughout the academic year 2018-2019, Hip Hop to Help put on free dance classes for the University of Warwick in affiliation with Warwick Devils. We used the Westwood Dance Studio to put on a variety of classes. As a partnership, we also raised hundreds of pounds for our different charity of the month choices over the year through campus classes.
Warwick Devils is the University of Warwick Cheerleading, Dance and Gymnastics Club. They have chosen to support Hip Hop to Help for the academic year 2019-2020. We are very grateful for their continued support.
MS Society
£160 Raised
Our charity of the month for March-April 2019 was MS Society, a cause close to our dance coordinator Louise’s heart. We put on classes in Leamington Spa at Fiery Feet Dance Studio and raised £160 for the charity. We also loved the T-Shirts we were sent by the charity! Everyone who attended class received a free one.
Thank you to Fiery Feet Dance Studio for 50% discount on studio hire.
“Thanks so much for raising money for the MS Society! Please pass on our thanks to your Group and hope they enjoyed doing it for us.”
Peace Hospice Care
£153 Raised
“I had such a fun class at hip hop to help, I’m not a dancer at all but they made me feel very much at ease with the routine and we all just had a laugh whilst dancing and raising money.”
Peace Hospice Care was our charity of the month for May, chosen by one of our dancers Jenna Ward as it is a charity that helped her family. We put on free dance classes at University of Warwick campus and raised money for this cause through optional donations. We taught 2 routines at each class, and loved every minute!
We raised £153 for Peace Hospice Care, and everyone left class with a smile.
Leamington Spa Classes
We regularly put on free dance classes at Fiery Feet Dance Studio in Leamington Spa, with an optional donation for our chosen charity of the month. The classes are for everyone to attend, all ages and levels are welcome. We teach two routines at every class, as well as a warm up and warm down. The studio is a bright and brilliant space, the energy levels are high and the atmosphere is poppin’.
Keep a look out for our future classes on our ‘Upcoming Classes’ page and our social media!
“Sophie will testify, this made me cry. My daughter has never done any dance like this, nor learned a routine, Amber was amazing, Olivia was literally bouncing all the way home. I can’t believe how much confidence my seven year old has and that’s thanks to all your hard work.”
Funding Awards
Hip Hop to Help is a non-profit social enterprise, meaning that we rely on funding to continue our work in the community. We are always so grateful to those who believe in the work we do, and donate money for us to continue making a positive impact in communities.
So far, we have applied for and received two funding awards:
After applications and interviews, we applied for and were awarded £893 of funding from the Student Enterprise Award at University of Warwick,
The University of Warwick is supporting student enterprise and helping the next generation of entrepreneurial graduates. The Student Enterprise Fund is aimed at students who have an innovative idea for a new business or social enterprise. Recipients are also offered a package of development support, workshops, events and networking opportunities, which Hip Hip to Help has found extremely useful.
After applications and interviews, we applied for and were awarded £1520 of funding from the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund at University of Warwick.
Lord Rootes was a noted Coventry motor manufacturer and the innovative Chairman of the Promotion Committee which founded the University of Warwick. To commemorate Lord Rootes' commitment to innovation and enterprise and to the University of Warwick, distributors of Rootes Group products generously contributed to a fund to encourage student enterprise and effort, supporting imaginative projects by groups and individual students.