Wolverhampton dance school makes 'cry for help' for larger premises after 18-month search
Staff at a dance school which is "bursting at the seams" have made a desperate plea for help in finding a bigger premises as an 18-month search continues.
SA Academy of Cheer and Dance boasts a team of 18 coaches and around 250 pupils, with opportunities for those aged three and up to learn and compete in various styles of dance and cheerleading.
The academy, which was started up by director Sharon Gray 26 years ago, has been based at the Webner Industrial Estate on Ettingshall Road, Wolverhampton, for more than a decade.
However, with demand continuing to soar, Sharon has been looking to relocate to a bigger site for the past 18 months, with no success.
To accommodate the large number of pupils and timetabled classes, Sharon has been forced to rent a space at Colton Hills Community School in Wolverhampton on a weekly basis.
Sharon, who runs the academy alongside her daughters Lauren Gray and Becky Rippard, said she is doing her best to avoid turning away budding dancers but has hit a "stalemate" in her search for a new site.
She said: "We started looking about 18 months ago and really didn't expect the trouble we have had, mainly because we need an industrial sized unit. We need a minimum of 7,000 square ft of space.
"We have gone through various estate agents and estate managers and we keep getting the same answer – that they don't want leisure on their site.
"When we have come across estate managers who do want us on their site, we can't get planning from the council so we have now hit a stalemate.
"We don't know if there is anyone out there who can help us to achieve what we want to get our academy to the standard we want to be.
"We try out best not to turn people away but we are bursting at the seams. We try to make space but eventually, it will come to a point where I am having to turn people away which is what I am trying to avoid. I want to give everyone an opportunity.
"We need more space to do what we want to do – it is really a cry for help to find something suitable."
In addition to offering dance and cheerleading lessons from Monday to Saturday each week, the academy also gives its pupils the chance to participate in a number of international competitions.
Sharon hopes that by finding a larger site for the students to rehearse, she can provide better facilities, such as multiple training floors for the cheerleaders to practice on ahead of competitions.
Whilst she is hoping to keep the dance school based in Wolverhampton, Sharon commented that she had reached the point in her search where she would consider other areas nearby.
The academy director, who lives in Wordsley, said it would feel like "all her Christmases had come at once" if she was able to find a new premises.
She added: "I don't know if I can put it into words. It is our future, my girls work with me so it is their future too.
"The search has been, and feels now, impossible. If we find somewhere suitable it will be the best feeling in the world."
Sharon has asked anyone who knows of a suitable site to get in touch at saacademy@hotmail.co.uk
