Come dancing and help raise funds for Cudeca in the Axarquía

Come Dancing for Cudeca supper dances have been running for 17 years. They take place once a month on Saturdays from 7pm to 11pm at Restaurante Ramírez in El Trapiche, just north of Vélez-Málaga.

Joyce and John Munns have been running the dinner-dances since they started. The couple explain that they attended sequence dance clubs and "took some lessons in ballroom dancing back home in Cornwall", where they lived for 20 years before coming to Spain. "We were really at a beginners or moderately competent level, certainly not qualified to teach or lead dances," they say.

Having honed their skills in England, when Joyce and John moved to Spain in 2007 they were keen to continue dancing and found other Brits who shared their passion. They joined forces with Mike and Sue Watkins to start Come Dancing for Cudeca.

"We started the club because we were unable to find this kind of dancing in the Vélez-Málaga area, where we were living. We just bought some audio equipment, found a ballroom, and Sue thought up the very effective name Come Dancing," John explains.

Sue and Mike have since returned to England and John and Joyce now have the help of German couple Udo and Trix Herff, who are also involved in running another dance club "Al Bailar" (bailar means dance in Spanish) which meets at Lo Pepe Molina restaurant in Almayate on Wednesday evenings.

John and Joyce explain that Restaurante Ramírez is the ideal place as "there is a large salon with a floor big enough to accommodate up to 60 ballroom dancers, complete with glitter ball and subdued lighting to give it a ballroom atmosphere".

The evenings have a structure which involves the dancers arriving at 7pm "in smart casual dress" and a two-course meal (salad and main course) is served at 7.30pm. The dancing starts at 9pm.

In terms of the type of dancing, the couple explain that there is a mix of ballroom and Latin and "easy dances" like ceroc, jive, line, and Scottish dancing, which they say, "any inexperienced dancers can quickly pick up".

The dances are presented in "strict order" so that the "purist ballroom dancers, purist ballroom sequence dancers and "absolute beginners" never have to sit out more than two dances before they have a dance "which suits them".

Participants are provided with a colour-coded list, so that everyone knows the order of the dancing "and can easily pick out their own favourites".

There's an interval, during which a raffle takes place with proceeds going to the Cudeca hospice, which John and Joyce say has received over 24,000 euros in the 17 years that the dinner dances have been running.

The couple point out that everyone is welcome and that they try to "provide dancing for all levels". It's an international affair too, as British, German and other north Europeans as well as Spanish dancers regularly attend. "It's nothing like Strictly Come Dancing, but we have a lot of fun," John and Joyce say.

To find out more email jjmunns@gmail.com. Each dinner dance costs 12 euros which is payable on the evening and then there are the raffle tickets for anyone who wants to participate. The next Come Dancing takes place at Restaurante Ramírez in El Trapiche on Saturday 18 January.