LITTLE did Brian and Philomena Green know when they met at a dance it would become, in many ways, a match made in heaven.

At the time, Philomena was the only woman manager at the transport firm Christian Salvesen based in Droitwich and she had hired Brian as a DJ to provide the music at the company’s annual dinner dance.

Their relationship blossomed and they tied the knot in 1988 – a second marriage for them both.

Although they don’t see eye to eye on absolutely everything, theirs is a complementary partnership and they have used it over the past 13 years to provide regular nights out for dance lovers in Worcester while raising thousands of pounds for St Richard’s Hospice.

Brian is passionate about music – all sorts from classical to pop and everything in between – while Philomena loves dancing and is a born organiser.

“I was a manager at Christian Salvesen when it was in Droitwich and I employed Brian to do the music for the company’s annual dinner dance which I organised,” said Philomena now aged 75, who has danced since the age of 12.

Brian on the other hand, also 75, is a retired tool maker and has loved music all his life. He started DJ work in his spare time way back in 1973.

His brand – Brian’s Supersounds – is well known in the Midlands, Gloucester and Cheltenham, as well as Droitwich and Worcester.

“I have been doing the music for dances since 1973 and I had gone through the disco, rock and roll and line dancing days,” said Brian.

Philomena added: “We decided we wanted to move away from line dancing because it was going more to pop than country. We thought we wanted to do sequence dancing and for Brian to establish himself in that line.”

They came up with an idea to join forces with a local charity and putting on dances each month at St John’s Sports Centre - a venue big enough to accommodate the numbers they thought would attend. After the hall hire charge and Brian’s fee was paid, all the money would go to the charity.

Philomenia said she spent a day at their Fernhill Heath home going through the Yellow Pages and phoning every local charity with the proposal. “I made so many calls to charities and only one called us back and that was St Richard’s.

“They were a bit hesitant at first but we offered to do a three-month trial and cover the costs ourselves if it didn’t work. We gave it a shot for three months and hoped it would take off,” she said.

The couple told the charity organisers they needed a couple of volunteers on the door because they did not want to handle any of the money.

“It was in instant success,” said Philomena. “Where can you go for a night out for £4 and it is making money for charity. People love it because they know how much we have raised on the night and they know the running total.”

So far a grand total of 24,219 people have been through the doors of St John’s Sports Centre – both the original one on Swanpool Walk and the new centre on Malvern Road – to dance the night away to Brian’s Supersounds in aid of St Richard’s.

The duo has staged 150 dances over the 13 years and an average of 162 dancers turn up each time. The average profit going to the hospice from each dance is £373 making a grand total of nearly £56,000.

Organising these events does require careful preparation and Brian spends time compiling the programme of music and dances for each evening. Philomena doesn’t always agree with his choice of music but says they usually manage to reach a compromise.

“All my dances are 50 per cent sequence and 50 per cent ballroom and Latin,” said Brian, who adds the key to keeping people coming through the door is varying the music and schedule of dances. People don’t want to do the same routines to the same music every month.

The couple make sure they get there about an hour or 90 minutes in advance to make sure everything is set up and working in time for the dancers when they arrive.

“I can remember doing a New Year’s Eve party in the days when we had vinyl records on a turntable and, when the first record was on, the deck blew up,” said Brian.

“Luckily there was a chap in the audience who had a turntable and he lent it to me but it was held together with elastic bands!”

These days Brian uses CDs and takes a spare player with him – just in case.

While Brian is on stage Philomena mingles, watches and listens to make sure the music volume and clarity is just right in all parts of the hall. The acoustics vary in each building. If anything needs adjusting she gives Brian a signal.

Once the dancing starts, Philomena is itching to get on the floor and will find anyone who is prepared to partner her - and she’s very happy to lead if they don’t feel confident.

“I dance but I am always listening,” she said. Everything has to be just right.

There is a nucleus of people who turn up every month and others who come along if they happen to be on holiday in the area or there isn’t any dancing in their area. The come from as far afield as Birmingham, mid Wales, Manchester and Leicester.

The couple say although most of the dancers are in their 60s and 70s they have two couples – one from Birmingham and another from Gloucester – in their 20s. Another couple are a 34-year-old woman and her 90-year-old granddad.

“We have a man who is 102 this month and he comes dancing with us,” said Philomena.

St Richard’s Hospice fundraising director Tricia Cavell said: “We are so fortunate that Brian and Philomena ask hospice volunteers along to each of their dances to host raffles every month.

“It is an incredible amount of money that has been raised over the years and we really appreciate the support of everyone involved who helps to raise funds to support our patient and family members.”