Hair salon sponsors ballet dancer Alex to join Bolshoi (From Warrington Guardian)
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Johnsons hair salon sponsors Great Sankey ballet dancer to join Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow
3:50pm Friday 20th July 2012 in News
Johnsons hairdressers are sponsoring Alex who isoff to the Bolshoi ballet in Russia. Pictured with Alex are, from the left, Suzanne Reilly (Alex’s hairdresser), Troy Yarwood and Alice Hopwood
A BALLET star of the future from Great Sankey is a cut above the rest after a hairdresser helped raise funds to pay for his training at the Bolshoi.
Earlier this year Alessandro Caggegi is only the fourth boy in the UK to be accepted to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. But he has to raise £18,000 a year to pay for the three-year course and expenses. Johnsons Hairdressers, on Sankey Street, is the only business backing Alessandro, of Brentnall Close, pledging £1,000.
Mum Louise Mercer said: “The fundraising is going really well. We have been very lucky with donations.
“Alex has done a lot of stuff with the BBC. Someone heard us on the World Service and donated £5,000 a year.
“Another guy saw Alex in the Sunday Times and came forward with £4,000. We have also done things like bag packing in Marks and Spencer.
“I have been surprised at how quickly it snowballed, people have been really supportive. Johnsons is the only business to come forward, the rest of the funding has been from personal donations and the online site.”
Final preparations are now under way for the 16-year-old’s move to Russia on August 30 and he is already saying goodbye to his friends.
Alessandro said: “I’m counting down the weeks. I try not to think too much about the funding but now I see how much people have given and it’s amazing.
“I had a leaving party the other week. It’s my last week at the Kate Simmons Dance School and I’m going every day to soak up the last memories.”
Jill Lawrence, marketing manager at Johnsons, said: “He’s been a client at the salon for a number of years and we want to support him.
“We will be monitoring his journey and will keep in touch and with him and still cut his hair as he is worried about finding a hairdresser in Moscow who will treat him as good as we do.”
To help with fundraising for the course visit his page at wix.com/acaggegi/alex-caggegi- ballet.
