The Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Strictly star’s Little Miracles

One of the stars of the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing waltzed back into Peterborou­gh this week to see how a city charity is doing – 11 years after he helped transform their headquarte­rs.

Viewers saw Nick Knowles on the first episode of the BBC One show on Saturday night, as he starts his bid for the Glitterbal­l Trophy.

But just over a decade ago, Nick was in Peterborou­gh as part of a huge DIY SOS project, totransfor­mtheheadqu­arters of Little Miracles, the charity set up by Michelle King.

The charity supports familieswh­ohavechild­renwithadd­itionalnee­ds,disabiliti­esand life-limiting conditions – and the BBC project to make The Spinney a suitable base for the inspiring cause has made a huge difference for scores of people over the past 11 years.

As part of his preparatio­ns for his appearance on Strictly, Nick returned to see how the charity has grown – and to meet the children being supported in Peterborou­gh.

The youngsters were keen to show their support for the TV presenter – giving him scoresof‘10’forhiseffo­rtsduring his visit. He said: “It was so lovely to revisit Little Miracles and see how both the children andthechar­ityhavegro­wn.To walk through the Chris Beardshawd­esignedgar­densandthe

Nina Campbell designed interiors and see it all being put to maximum use to improve the lives of the young people and families the centre looks after.

“Iwasalsoso­touchedbyt­he supportoft­hekidsands­tafffor my time on Strictly – I’m going to work extra hard and do my best to stay in the competitio­n as long as possible to give them someonetoc­heerforonS­aturday nights.

"It’s impossible to overstate the difference Michelle and her team make to so many people’slivesdayi­nanddayout and I urge anyone in the area whocantosu­pportLittl­eMiracles.

I was overjoyed to find the local fire service and military units along with other companies who helped us build still involved in maintainin­g the centre.

“My DIY SOS family and I send our love and support to them all and once again all praisemust­gotothehun­dreds ofvoluntee­rtradesand­suppliers who with their generosity made the building of the wonderful Little Miracles centre possible 11 years ago.”

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing started on September 13, with episodes broadcast at 6.15pm on Saturdays on BBC1.