Dancing shoes at the ready …

Those of you who have not yet bought tickets for Donnie Maroot’s Strictly Come Cèilidh Dancing event will perhaps be persuaded by the offer of a free drink on the door.

Yes, half the population have committed themselves to 'dry January' but Donnie assures me that there will be plenty of dry options – such as dry white wine, dry gin and dry martini!

I understand many of the competitors have been engaging in fitness classes and dance lessons in order to prime themselves for the event.

The stakes are incredibly high as 10 Highland 'celebrities' face up for this prestigious prize adjudicated by three esteemed judges: Rachel McLagan (the only professional dancer in the whole production), Darren MacLean and yours truly. Competitors on the evening will be Mànran’s Ewen Henderson, Skerryvore’s Martin Gillespie, Sian’s Ceitlin LR Smith, Trail West’s Seonaidh MacIntyre, Alba Choir’s Joy Dunlop, Iain Beggs and Mairi MacLennan from BBC Alba series Bannan, Shona Masson (presenter on BBC Alba), Helen MacInnes (whose sister, Alana, was due to dance but only recently dropped her poor sister in it) and Lorne MacDougall – possibly the biggest celebrity of all of us having featured in Doctor Who, Brave, Still Game, Whisky Galore, and Strictly Come Dancing … the actual Strictly Come Dancing as opposed to this cèilidh version!

The most important thing is that this event is fundraising for a very good cause, so will hopefully attract a big audience. The evening begins at 7.30pm in the Glasgow University Union. Tickets are £25 and are available by contacting Donald on donniemaroot@hotmail.co.uk