SUFFOLK: She has worked with pop sensation Beyonce and performed in front of royalty – and now she is coming to spur on charity fundraisers in Ipswich.

Britain’s top Bollywood dance expert Honey Kalaria will be leading a warm-up at the start of the St Elizabeth Hospice’s Midnight Walk next month.

There are less than two weeks left before registration closes for the eight-mile walk around Ipswich town centre and thousands of women have already signed up.

Honey, who has worked alongside Beyonce, Gareth Gates and Craig David and performed in front of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Princess Diana, will be kicking off the event on Saturday, May 14, at Ipswich Town Football Club with a mass-participation Indian-inspired dance warm up.

Taking place on the practice pitch from 10.45pm, the work-out will feature all the glamorous costumes and music of Bollywood as Honey and her team of dancers get the girls limbered up before they make their way to the start line.

Honey, who recently broke the world record for getting the largest studio audience to learn Bollywood dance in the shortest time, said: “St Elizabeth Hospice’s Midnight Walk is a brilliant event for women to take part in and I am looking forward to getting them all fired up before they set off.

“I know all the money raised from this walk will help St Elizabeth Hospice continue to provide its much-needed services free of charge and I am pleased to be able to help at this event.”

Among the new attractions along the route will be fire eaters, stilt walkers, jugglers – and even people dressed as monkeys handing out bananas to provide walkers with an energy boost.

And back due to popular demand are the fireman from the Colchester Road station who will be happy to pose for photos, as well as the topless collar and cuffs men, who will this year be outside the California Club in Foxhall Road providing refreshments.

Many of the walkers will be taking part in memory of a loved one and, for the first time this year, they will be able to have a moment of reflection outside St Elizabeth Hospice, in Foxhall Road, and write a personal message on a memory tree.

Event organiser Rachael Mittell said: “The Midnight Walk is not far away and the excitement is mounting. Registration closes on Friday, May 6 and we would love to have 2,000 women taking part, so please, if you are thinking of signing up, do so today.”

n The Midnight Walk is supported by The Evening Star and other local media organisations.

To register visit www.midnightwalkipswich.co.uk

n Are you taking part for a special reason? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.