A Teesside autism champion is quick stepping into a new challenge as one of six “everyday heroes” competing in a special charity version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Middlesbrough’s Anna Kennedy OBE is a leading autism campaigner who set up the UK’s largest school for autism after her own two sons struggled to get a mainstream education.
Now Anna, 54, a former Newlands School and Kirby College pupil, who grew up in the Longlands area, has been chosen as one of six “inspirational but everyday heroes” to take part in BBC One’s The People’s Strictly for Comic Relief.
The special four-part series, which will air on BBC One in the lead-up to Comic Relief 2015, follows the journey of Anna - a former dance teacher herself specialising in tap - and five other “extraordinary individuals” as they embark on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, pairing up with one of the show’s dance professionals for five weeks’ training before taking part in the final contest in front of the nation in the Strictly ballroom.
Each contestant was picked by members of the public for their tireless and selfless work which has helped change so many lives for the better.
In 2013 Anna, who is mum to Patrick, 25, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and Angelo, 21, with autism, was named both Action Network Woman of the Year and Tesco mum of the year, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Professional Studies by Teesside University.
She and husband, Sean, now living in Uxbridge, are the founders behind Hillingdon Manor School - one of the largest specialist education facilities for children with autism in Europe.
They also set up a second specialist school in Kent, a community college, a respite home, and Anna has an international following of 50,000 parents of autistic children through her website, Anna Kennedy Online.
Anna also became patron of Norton-based autism charity Daisy Chain last year.
Anna said: “I can’t say too much at the moment, but I’m really looking forward to it and it will be a great platform from which to talk about autism.
“There were 11,000 nominations so to be one of six chosen is a real honour.”
The series will consist of four pre-recorded programmes, presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Episode four will see all six contestants compete on the famous Strictly Come Dancing ballroom, as they vie for the judges’ scores and viewers’ votes. The judges’ scores will be for guidance only, and the public will have the deciding vote.
Voting lines will open once all couples have danced and the winner of the public vote will then be crowned The People’s Strictly champion as part of the live Comic Relief show on BBC One on Friday, March 13.
The other contestants are Phillip Barnett from Cornwall, Trishna Bharadia from Buckinghamshire, Cassidy Little, of Peterborough, Heather Parsons from Hampshire and Michael Pattie from Dumfries.
The first episode is to be screened on Monday, February 23.
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