Bridgnorth's Disco Daddy celebrates 21 years of getting Shropshire children dancing

When Nick Dodd first stepped out as Disco Daddy in January 2005, he thought it would be a short-lived adventure. "I thought it was the sort of thing that only young people do and jump around," he said. "I didn't think my knees would take it, you know!" Twenty-one years and more than 2,000 events later, the Bridgnorth children's entertainer is busier than ever.

Nick is a familiar face at parties, village halls and festivals across Shropshire, Mid Wales and the wider Midlands. He is clear that he is a children's entertainer rather than a DJ behind a deck, and his aim at every party is simple: make sure the children do not sit down for a minute.

After two decades, he is seeing his work come full circle. At a recent party at the Riverside Caravan Club in Bridgnorth, he met locals he first entertained in 2008, and realised that a girl named Chloe from his early gigs was now in her twenties and attending with her own baby.

The music has changed over the years, from Frozen to Wednesday Addams to today's K-Pop and TikTok hits, but the energy has not. Nick has also trained to make his parties welcoming for every child, earning a SEND Diploma and a Level 2 Teaching Assistant Diploma so he can adapt his shows for SEND-specialist centres and academies.

"I don't want to be alienating children at my party because there's a part of that party that they don't enjoy or they're struggling with," he said.

His diary is booked up to two years ahead for busy seasons such as Halloween and Christmas, Local businesses are getting behind him too: Second Sense Hearing Specialists, an independent family-run hearing care provider in Whitburn Street, Bridgnorth, has become a Gold Community Partner, and Nick visited the clinic to thank Becky Jennings and the team. "It's really encouraging when one local business gets behind another," Nick said.

To book Disco Daddy or check his availability, visit the Disco Daddy website or follow The Disco Daddy on social media.