A HELPING hand towards raising £2.5m to install an MRI scanner in Darlington Memorial Hospital has been given by a troupe of talented dancers.

Tiffany School of Dance is the latest in a string of community groups, organisations and businesses to fundraise towards the bid to help countless patients with up-to-date technology.

The dancers, who perfect their pirouettes off Branksome Terrace, Darlington, recently hosted the school's 20th anniversary and chose to dedicate fundraising at the event to find £1,500 for the MRI appeal.

Rachael Tiffany, founder of Tiffany School of Dance, said: “Our latest show was called Celebration – as we’re celebrating 20 years since I started the school.

“With the Civic Theatre out of action, Yarm School were kind enough to loan us their Princess Alexandra Auditorium.

“We always use the event to support a charity and I chose the MRI scanner appeal as a good local cause.

“It’s vital equipment which many people will benefit from.”

Parents of the young dancers involved were asked to contribute to the cause in exchange for a photograph of their child in a programme for the event which raised £400 towards the total.

Pat Chambers, Charity development officer at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We want to bring the very latest in MRI innovation to our hospitals as tremendous advances in scanning technology over recent years means they can be enormously helpful to our radiology consultants in diagnosing cancer, heart conditions, strokes and many other health issues."