The 21st October 2025 marks a whole year since storm Babet flooded Catcliffe and our studio on Sheffield Lane. It was unsurprisingly devastating at the time and our studios were out of use for 3 and a half months. Water rose to 89 centimetres within the building. However, it has also been a time to be very grateful.
Within a day of being flooded Swallownest Baptist Church (the one that I attend) offered us the use of their building for as long as we needed it and within a week all of our classes had moved to a new home. The council provided us with an emergency grant to keep the business going and Rotherham Round Table contacted us to ask how they could help.
Thanks to them we have a new portable electric piano and therefore removable to safety should floods ever threaten us again. And that wasn’t the end of the help, the International Dance Teachers’ Association Benevolent Fund stepped in to part-fund the drying and sterilising of the space and Pasuda at the top of the Waverley estate took all our furniture off site and stored it out of the way whilst we got sorted.
Lastly Plugged-In AV stepped in to store and assess all of our technical equipment as it dried out. I think that’s everyone! It is a testament to the willingness of people to help in a crisis and each one deserves our thanks, even now we are promised in-kind donations from Equans and the government to help make our building truly flood resilient.
We did not sit on our laurels and relax though, along with Noodle Performance Arts we put on a fundraiser concert, with costs funded by the council, raising over £1,000 which we combined with the money raised at the Winter Green fundraiser to distribute over £2,000 directly to 51 families affected by the floods.
All-in-all the future looks rosy. We’ve got plans to deal with future floods and we have redone Jack’s so that it is even better than before with flood resistant furniture, dance floors and a concrete plan to allow us to be back in in a week rather than months. We absolutely have not done it alone, but we’re so grateful and excited to still be able to serve this community and we hope we will see you at lessons or at our performances in the local area. Everyone is welcome, be yourself – be included.
Olivia Egan, Jacks Theatre School
