YOUNGSTERS from a North Ayrshire dance and gymnastics group are trying to raise over £1,000 so they can buy a much-needed tumble track.

Maria Marshall Dance Crew (MMDC), a new dance school based in Glengarnock Scout Hall, needs the equipment to help improve the skills of its young members so that they can take part in competitions.

Maria Marshall, dance teacher and owner of MMDC, told the Herald: “We’re going to do competitions this year for the first time so we really need the tumble track so the children can improve their skills and learn tricks. They work really, really hard and it would mean the absolute world to them if we could reach our goal.”

Maria only launched MMDC last summer, yet in that time the dance group has quadrupled in size.

The 19-year-old, who studies dance at Anniesland College, said: “I’ve always loved dance. I started up the dance school in June last year to give the kids something to do. It was just a small group of about 20 to start with. Then we had our Christmas show and suddenly people were asking about us and when the classes were on and it just went from there.

“It was overwhelming the amount of children who wanted to join. We only had one class at the start, now we’ve got six classes and about 80 kids. We’ve gone from 20 to about 80 in a month which is crazy but it’s been great.”

To help raise the money for the tumble track, MMDC have several events in the pipeline. Maria has also set up a page on Go Fund Me.

She said: “This month we’re doing a sponsored walk from Kilbirnie to Lochwinnoch along the cycle track.

“Next month we’re hoping to do a race night which we’re hoping will make a lot of money. We will be fundraising a lot this year and trying to get new equipment so we can do competitions.”

Visit MMDC’s Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/MMDCKids.

For more information, you can also visit www.facebook.com/MMDC.