A whistle-stop tour of press coverage from this dancing odyssey. You can click on many of the titles for the full story.
BBC Radio Somerset – 5th November 2012
ITV West – 3rd November 2012
Wesley Smith reports as Ben restarts his charity dance marathon from the scene of the hit and run.
BBC Points West – 3rd November 2012
BBC Radio Bristol – 3rd November 2012
BBC Radio Wiltshire / BBc Radio Somerset – 2nd November 2012
BBC News Online – 2nd November 2012
“Teacher hit on charity dance resumes challenge”
Wiltshire Times – 2nd November 2012
“Dancer goes on as crash driver banned”
Daily Mail – 27th October 2012
The daily mail details the sentence received by the lady who bumped into Ben and Alice. And says that Ben’s 24 years old (must be his baby face…)
Daily Express – 27th October 2012
Express Online follow the story, and get Ben’s age right.
Western Daily Press – 27th October 2012
A double-page spread featuring Ben’s blog post in which he describes the hit and run.
BBC News Online – 26th October 2012
The BBC report the outcome of the case.
This is Wiltshire – 26th October 2012
Ditto.
BBC Points West – 1st October 2012
Ben catches up with BBC Points West as he dances across the Severn Bridge…
BBC News Online – 12th October 2012
Ben is forced to postpone his dance…
BBC Radio Somerset – 12th October 2012
Wiltshire Times – 11th October 2012
Wiltshire Times – 11th October 2012
“Bradford on Avon fundraiser hasn’t stopped dancing yet”
Breeze Radio – 8th October 2012
The Sun – 6th October 2012
The Daily Mail – 6th October 2012
BBC Points West – 5th October 2012
Mizzima – 5th October 2012
BBC News England – 5th October 2012
Wiltshire Times – 5th October 2012
Western Daily Press – 5th October 2012
BBC Radio Wiltshire – 5th October 2012
BBC Points West – 5th October 2012
BBC Radio Bristol – 4th October 2012
Wiltshire Times – 4th October 2012
The paper featured an article and photographs of Ben dancing with the Mayor through his hometown of Bradford-on-Avon.
The Bath Chronicle – 4th October 2012
“That’s what I call country dancing” The Bath Chronicle wins the prize for best Dance Britain headline!
The Irrawaddy – 2nd October 2012
Dance Britain gets a mention in The Irrawaddy.
BBC News Online – 1st October 2012
Ben features on BBC Wiltshire.
Wiltshire Times – 28th September 2012
Ben begins the dance through his home county of Wiltshire.
Warrington Guardian – 27th September 2012
The children of Ravenbank Primary School in Lymm put on their dancing shoes.
Bridghouse Echo – 21st September 2012
Toe tapping Ben waltzes into Brighouse at the halfway stage of the challenge.
Northumberland Gazette – 17th September 2012
Ben boogies with Ruth Bull, headteacher at Glendale Middle School.
The Huddersfield Examiner – 14th September 2012
Cheers and waves greet Ben as he passes through Huddersfield on his journey towards Lands End.
Bo’Ness Journal – 13th September 2012
Ben shimmies and strikes a pose in Queensferry!
Berwick Advertiser – 10th September 2012
England’s first school helps Ben on his journey…
John o’Groats Journal – 17th August 2012
“School cheer for end-to-end dancer”
Brighouse Echo – 12th August 2012
“Waltzing across the country for a worthy cause”
BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire – 14th July 2012
Ben chats to broadcaster Elliot Webb about the epic challenge to come & how people from the area can join in.
Stratford Herald – 13th July 2012
Ben strikes a rather fetching pose and asks residents of Stratford-upon-Avon to join him on his epic dancing quest!
BBC Four – 15th June 2012
Ben features as part of BBC Four’s ‘Glastonbury After Hours’ hour-long documentary.
Vodafone World of Difference – 18th April 2012
Dance Britain for Burma is featured as one of Vodafone’s top ‘World of Difference’ projects.
Amnesty International – February 2012
Ben features as one of Amnesty International UK’s ‘Heroes’…
BBC Radio 2 – 14th December 2011
Ben guests as the world’s longest dancer on Radio 2′s hour-long documentary featuring the story of dance marathons through the ages.
LondonDance.com – 19th October 2011
Article from LondonDance.com on Ben’s ’5 days of dancing’ !
Mizzima – 18th October 2011
Brilliant article written by online Burma news specialists Mizzima (check out that crowd supporting Ben in his final minutes!)
EDP 24 – 17th October 2011
Ben reaches the heady heights of being ‘Londoner of the Day’! Simon Bull’s article highlights Ben’s marathon adventures, including one fateful ‘Cheryl Cole’ outfit…
Real World Records – 17th October 2011
Check it out – a rather fetching photo of Ben 4 days in… Early morning sun was an issue!
London24 – 17th October 2011
London24 take a liking to Ben’s dancing attire, as he sports “a different look for each [silent disco slot] – from Kylie’s infamous white one-piece to a fetching tutu.”
Time Out – October 2011
Free to Dance features in Time Out’s top 50 things to do in London in October.
Londonist – 10th October 2011
Londonist preview the world’s greatest silent disco…
LondonDance.com – 7th October 2011
In an interview during the build-up to the event, Ben reveals what he though his biggest challenge would be during the 135 hours (amazingly, ‘dancing’ is not it)…
Contrary Life – 21st September 2011
Piece written by Caroline King, helping us get the word out there!
The Guardian – 27th June 2011
Lovely article from the Guardian highlighting Ben’s 72hours of Glastonbury Festival grooving… it even made page 3 of their Glastonbury special!
Worthy FM – 24th June 2011
The lovely people at Worthy FM caught up with Ben as he danced his way around Glastonbury and did a 5 min interview for their Glastonbury radio station.
Yin&Yang Street Blog – 24th June 2011
Very, very cool London street blog ‘Yin&Yang’ picks up our story and runs with it… thanks guys! Warning: once you get to their blog, you may never leave…!
Zest Magazine – 23rd June 2011
Move over Beyonce! Ben’s festival moves make headlines in this Zest article: “Busting a groove at Glastonbury”. Great pic of Ben in his dancing element!! Zest have been following Ben’s Free to Dance challenge since June and are looking forward to October’s world record attempt.
Mizzima – 6th June 2011
An amazingly in-depth feature and interview with Ben during his visit to the Thai-Burma border in early May.
BBC Radio London – 17th April 2011
BBC Radio London grab Ben for an interview at the London Marathon start line and catch up with him 7 miles in as he dances past the crowds in Greenwich!
Capital FM – 15th April 2011
Breakfast Radio host Lisa Snowdon puts Ben’s question to Paula Radcliffe – “what song would help her get to the finish if she were dancing her way round?!”
Dancing Times – 15th April 2011
A snappy run-down of Ben’s London Marathon dancing attempt, beginning enthusiastically with ‘ “I’m worried,” says Ben. “Six hours is my injury-free maximum so far…’
Sky News – 14th April 2011
Ben is top of Sky News’ build-up coverage in advance of the London Marathon! An ‘Editor’s Pick’, and even on the front page for a day!
The Guardian – 14th April 2011
A hilarious piece by Zoe Williams headlining with the lengths people like Ben go to to raise money at the London Marathon.
BBC Radio 2 – 14th April 2011
DJ Dave Pearce gets his listeners to text in suggestions for songs for Ben to dance the London Marathon to.
BBC Radio 5 Live – 13th April 2011
Ben gets to apologise live to the entire nation in advance of letting his dancing moves loose on an unsuspecting public during Anita…
London Dance – 12th April 2011
An in-depth interview focusing on Ben’s public dance training exploits in the build-up to the London Marathon.
BBC 5 Live – 31st March 2011
Late one night Ben featured on Tony Livesey’s show on BBC Radio Five Live… and a new dance craze was created…!
The New Internationalist Blog – 21st March 2011
The New Internationalist’s Blog features an interesting piece about Burma and Ben’s dancing answer to help raise awareness of its situation.
Lambeth Life – 15th March 2011
A nice article in Ben’s most local newspaper showcasing the March FREEMOB around the streets of central London.
The South London Press – 15th March 2011
The South London Press covers our first ever live Free to Dance FREEMOB with a nice pic and article…
Mizzima – 8th March 2011
Burma and Thailand online newspaper Mizzima gets word of our March 6th FREEMOB too.
Dance Today Magazine – 7th March 2011
As does Dance Today magazine with a fabulous piece on the forthcoming FREEMOB and how all and sundry can join in.
Time FM – 6th March 2011
On the morning of the FREEMOB Ben features on Anna Cookson’s Time FM show and gets a request in for a song to get everyone moving.
Time Out London – 2nd March 2011
Excitingly our first London FREEMOB event becomes a prestigious ‘Editor’s Pick’ of Time Out London.
All Voices – 1st March 2011
Ruth Ling writes a Burma-focused piece on the forthcoming Free to Dance FREEMOB in central London for the global to local news source.
Scriptoria Blog – 25th January 2011
A nice blog article from specialist sustainable development blog Scriptoria, describing Free to Dance as a campaign which ‘stands out from the crowd’.
Times Educational Supplement – 21st March 2011
Ben features in the weekly educational newspaper the Times Educational Supplement as a ‘teacher in the news’, no less.
BBC Radio Manchester – 16th January 2011
Ben features on Darryl Morris’ show on BBC Radio Manchester after his trip up to Manchester in early January.
Le Cool – 10th Janurary 2011
Very cool London events listing and review site LeCool promotes our London FREEMOB to its in-the-know, hip and happening readership… brilliant!
Mercury – 14th November 2010
Ben’s tale of dancing freedom makes it to the households of Greenwich and Lewisham curteousy of South London’s ‘Mercury’.
Martin Lewis Money Saving Email – 10th November 2010
Ben’s first video (him dancing across the country to see if people are really Free to Dance) makes it into Martin Lewis’ weekly moneysaving email… which finds its way to a whopping 5 million inboxes!
South London Press – 2nd November 2010
Ben makes his entry into the world of news media with a piece in the South London Press. Nice jim jams, Ben…
