Darwen's Unsung Hero Award

Florentin Boudjeko was presented with the Gold Unsung Hero award at the Christmas lights switch on last week in recognition of his voluntary work. Darwen Online approached Florentin for an interview in which he shared his joy and surprise at winning the award.

Mr Boudjeko holds regular dance classes where he teaches Salsa to beginners and advanced students. The classes have proved very popular and some of the people who attend his classes nominated him for the award as a way of showing their appreciation.

Florentin's salsa group is celebrating it's 1st anniversary in January and he now holds more regular events than ever before as more and more people sign up to learn salsa. He says people of all ages attend his class, from children to pensioners - and everyone seems to have a great time learning to dance, keeping fit and meeting new people.

In our interview Florentin talks about his time in Darwen and his plans for the future:

How long have you lived in Darwen?
I moved to Darwen 2 years ago after living in Manchester for a short while. Before that I lived in Cameroon where dancing is a part of life!

When did you start the salsa lessons?
I love dancing and saw an opportunity to start teaching others for free so I started up the "Darwen Salsa Group" in January 2007.

How did it make you feel to receive the 'Unsung Hero' award?
It was a lovely surprise to find out I'd been nominated in the first place, but even then I didn't expect to win. I didn't know anything about it until the Thursday before I received the award when I was told I'd been nominated. When it was announced that I'd won Gold I just felt so proud. I never expected anything from anyone I just teach Salsa because I enjoy it - it comes from the heart, I have a real passion for dancing.

You've recently introduced new classes to cope with the demand. Do you think winning the award will increase the popularity even more?
I hope so - the more people I can teach the better! It gives people something to do and it's nice seeing people smile. I have students of all ages and I try to encourage people to dance with different partners whenever possible. It helps people build confidence and also provides the opportunity to meet new people.


I'm really busy now but I love doing what I'm doing. So much so that some of my friends feel like I've let them down. I enjoy fishing and playing football in my spare time but whenever a friend calls me up these days I'm always busy. I'll always put my students first though - I've met some wonderful people and would never let them down - I'm just going to continue expanding hopefully.

I see you also run salsa parties in addition to your classes?
Yes, from time to time I host salsa parties which are a slightly more relaxed affair. It is where people can let their hair down a bit and test out their new skills. The parties are often arranged by other people - I just host the events. I attended a party on Friday at St Edwards Parish Hall where the money raised from the event was going to charity.

You must be quite busy now then?
Yes, I'm always on the go. In addition to teaching salsa I also provide a translation service for the citizen advice bureau in Manchester. They sometimes deal with people who can't speak English so I translate into French for them. This helps French speaking people who are looking for advice etc.

What are your plans for the future?
Eventually it would be nice to get a job connected with teaching Salsa in some way. I was shocked to discover many young people in this country seem to need lots of alcohol before they start dancing so I'd like to teach teenagers to dance without being drunk.

I might look towards holding some sort of after school event for 8-14 year olds. They teach children to sing and dance from a young age in Cameroon, I'd like to offer a similar service here in Darwen.

One day it would be nice to open up a salsa club in Darwen! I will just have to wait and see how things unfold for me. The award was a really nice surprise though and I am so proud to have been nominated - winning Gold was just a brilliant feeling.

Anyone who is interested in learning salsa should contact Florentin on 07784 290181. Classes are held in Darwen on Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sundays.

Caitlin Jones received Silver in the Darwen Unsung Hero award for raising money for cancer research and Chris Stephenson was awarded Bronze in recognition of his voluntary work in the town.
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