A start up is getting women of all ages up on the dancefloor for a spin, but not in a nightclub.

Ipswich Star: Women letting their hair down on the dancefloor at a Let's Bop session. Picture: Ronni-Louise HetheringtonWomen letting their hair down on the dancefloor at a Let's Bop session. Picture: Ronni-Louise Hetherington (Image: Archant)

Jane Spencer-Rolfe, who is in her late 50s, started up Let’s Bop as a business in May 2017 with her 24 year old son Laurence Spencer with the aim of getting women dancing and socialising together.

She met Ronni-louise Hetherington, 39, last summer at a Slimming World session and Ms Hetherington has joined ‘the party’ this May. “I was awestruck firstly than this women had such a great idea but actually got up and decided to do something with it,” explained Ms Hetherington who is from Stowmarket.

The Let’s Bop trio now have freestyle dance sessions running at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket and the LP bar in Bury St Edmunds, as well as a new one at Stonham Barns in Mid Suffolk.

“We are truly a three generational outfit - doing something which is very much a tomorrow’s idea, as an ageing and often stressed-out population need to find simple ways of feeling good, and doing things that are good for them,” explained Mrs Spencer-Rolfe. “Everyone needs to keep moving, and all the better doing something enjoyable such as dance.”

Ipswich Star: Jane Spencer-Rolfe, who runs dance start-up 'Lets Bop.' Picture: Mick SpencerJane Spencer-Rolfe, who runs dance start-up 'Lets Bop.' Picture: Mick Spencer (Image: Archant)

The dance start up is a far cry from Ms Hetherington’s day job as a client developer for a civil engineering company.

Ms Spencer-Rolfe spent 23 years working in Probation offices, and was founder of one of the first on line dating services, nomorefrogs.com, based on a psychometric matching process. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Ms Spencer-Rolfe, of Needham Market.

Ms Spencer-Rolfe points out jokingly that there’s no panel of judges at Lets Bop. “We aren’t all Strictly, much as some of us love it!

“Hearing the songs and the nostalgia of simply getting out there for a bop again just make you feel good, so in general, is great for well being.”

As a sufferer from depression and anxiety, Ms Hetherington says she knows how important it is too look after mental health as much as physical. “Let’s Bop is a perfect mix to support both,” she said. “There are times when I have felt as a woman in my late thirties, I don’t want to be at various venues due to my age, but I still want to enjoy music and the atmosphere of a club but feeling comfortable with who I am now.

“Let’s Bop is a way that I can support other women, bring a way of release and escapism from the day to day, and have a damn well earned good time.”

For more information about attending a session of Let’s Bop, either on your own or with friends, see https://letsbop.co.uk/.