Farm vet has sights strictly set on dance competition success
A Shropshire farm vet is hoping to waltz his way to victory when he takes part in a charity dancing competition.
Will Gratwick of LLM Farm Vets will take to the floor for Strictly Shropshire 2025, an annual dance contest that raises money for Hope House Children’s Hospices.
He is one of 16 people who have signed up to take part in the Strictly Come Dancing inspired competition that is being held at Lion Quays Hotel in Oswestry on 28th November.
The event aims to raise £100,000 for Hope House’s Quality Moments Matter Campaign, which raises funds for end-of-life care, therapeutic support and quality of life activities. Hope House cares for babies, children and young people who have life-threatening conditions, and has centres in Oswestry and Conwy in North Wales.
This year’s Strictly Shropshire event has a movie theme and Will will be performing a Viennese Waltz to Annie Lennox’s version of I Put a Spell on You from the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. He’s been partnered with a local professional dancer for the competition.
Will has been practising his dance moves alongside his job as a vet at LLM Farm Vets in Whitchurch, which is part of VetPartners, a respected group of veterinary practices and associated animal healthcare businesses. Will has a special interest in dairy herd health and visits farms all over Shropshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and North Wales.
He will also have seven professional dance lessons before the competition where he’ll polish his technique and refine the routine and he’s hoping his fancy footwork will attract high scores from the judges.
Will said: “When I heard about the competition it was a bit of a spontaneous decision to put my name forward as I didn’t fully realise at the time what it involved, but I’m really enjoying learning to ballroom dance and it’s going to be exciting to be part of the competition.
“I have done some dancing before, having been to salsa classes with my wife, but the Viennese waltz is very different to the Latin style of dancing. With the Viennese waltz you are constantly rotating and all that spinning can make you quite dizzy. One of the things I’ve been practising is keeping my balance and my posture through the turns and trying not to feel sick.
“As well as being lots of fun, I’m delighted to be taking part in Strictly Shropshire because it’s for a very worthy cause. Hope House provides incredible support to families in our local area who are going through such a difficult time so I’m hoping to raise as much for the charity as possible, and all donations will be gratefully received.
“My colleagues at LLM Farm Vets are giving me their support and making donations and their words of encouragement will really help me when I step onto the dance floor on the big night.”
Donations to Hope House can be made through Will’s Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/william-gratwick-1?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA
LLM Farm Vets has been caring for livestock for 25 years and has sites in Whitchurch in Shropshire, Eccleshall in Staffordshire, Broughton and Higham in Lancashire and Bakewell and Needwood in Derbyshire. It supports dairy, sheep and beef farmers to keep their livestock happy and healthy while helping them improve productivity.
