Disadvantaged children in Blackburn can take part in free dance lessons every week.

Joy Wareing is a dance teacher from Blackburn who founded the Dance Factory in 1998 after performing professionally for most of her life.

Many of Joy’s talented students worked tirelessly and stepped up to prestigious dance and performing arts academies across the country.

Now after seeing the success of her dancers, Joy is passionate about helping other aspiring performers in the local area achieve their dreams on stage.

Lancashire Telegraph: Anaya Tomlinson (L) and Carla Rutherford (R)Anaya Tomlinson (L) and Carla Rutherford (R) (Image: Joy Wareing)

She said: “One of my students from Blackburn, Anaya Tomlinson, was offered an unconditional to study at Rambert, which is phenomenal.

"Her mum is a single parent… and used to drive her down to London at 4am every Saturday. To know that a little girl from Blackburn is competing with people from all over the world is amazing.”

“Opportunities like that are amazing and I want anyone, regardless of their background, to be able to have a shot.

“That’s the reason I started up free dance lessons for disadvantaged children. Being able to offer something like that and make a difference to children who wouldn’t normally get the chance to do something like that, is my biggest joy.

“I’ve been a single parent working full time so I’ve never really had the time to do it but now I do and I love it. Some of them are so talented and I want to inspire them to go onto do whatever they want.”

Joy teaches a range of different dance styles including ballet, jazz, tap, street, musical theatre and contemporary.

Her students have gone on to perform in shows with the likes of Peter Andre, Ant and Dec, X Factor winners Rak-Su as well as achieving scholarships for the top schools in the country including Bird College, Rambert, and Italia Conti.

To find out more information about the classes, visit the Facebook page The Dance Factory or email jazzyjoy@hotmail.co.uk.