Lady Vereker has given a dance group?s fundraising efforts a leg up.

She snapped up a raffle ticket from 11-year-old Rachel Ray, when the young dancer pirouetted into Government House.

The talented schoolgirl, a student with the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda, is one of many dancers, parents and relatives working to sell 2,500 raffle tickets.

That?s because the foundation has been chosen by the Ross (Blackie) Talbot Charity Golf Classic to get funding for the foundation?s Young Dancer?s programme. This will run during DanceBermuda and is tailored specifically for the needs of dancers aged nine to 11.

Foundation chairman Don Kramer said: ?We?re delighted to have been chosen as a recipient of funding.?

The foundation aims to raise standards by offering world-class training opportunities to the Island?s dancers, teachers and choreographers. It helps run DanceBermuda? a three-week summer intensive for local and visiting dancers who are admitted by audition. It also offers training workshops for teachers and free master classes for students.

Lady Vereker is a member of the Foundation?s Honourary Board. And the trip to Government House is not Rachel?s first brush with the famous faces on the Island. She also received a scholarship from another board member, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, at the end of DanceBermuda in August 2005.