A DETERMINED young Greenock woman who helps young dancers make their dreams a reality is in the running for a Telegraph community champion award.

Lauren Hair, owner and founder of Lauren Hair Dance Company, has been nominated in the Teacher of the Year category.

She shot to fame when she got to the final of the Sky TV show Got to Dance when she was just 16, back in 2011.

Now she dedicates her life to teaching youngsters in her own dance school, and is by their side when they're competing in contests all over Scotland.

Lauren, 28, says the nomination for the Tele was a 'complete shock'.

She added: "It's a lovely surprise.

"I'm really excited about it and very honoured.

"It's so nice to know that people appreciate what I do.

"It's great to be nominated in the Teacher of the Year category, as that shows people firmly believe that teaching dance is educating young people.

"Thank-you to whoever nominated me."

Lauren started dancing when she was 11 and says she fell in love with it very quickly.

She added: "I didn't keep too well when I was younger and the dancing really helped with my mobility.

"It didn't take me long to realise that I wanted to progress and become professional."

The dedicated young dancer travelled up to Glasgow to train six and sometimes seven days a week.

Her frequent trips up and down to the city made her realise she wanted to create world-class facilities in her home town.

Lauren added: "Not everyone's parents can travel up to Glasgow and that made me determined to set up the same kind of training facility here in Inverclyde.

"I've now assembled the best of the best teachers here so the young people have all they need."

After reading the final of Got to Dance, Lauren started working as a professional and took on jobs in locations including China and Dubai.

She secured a residency at Wild Cabaret and soon afterwards started teaching a fitness class at the Victorian Suite, which was the starting point of her dance school dream.

Lauren set up her own dance company in 2017 and has been teaching for a total of 13 years.

The young businesswoman is proud that the dance school has become such a big part of the Inverclyde community.

Fundraising activities help raise money to enable youngsters to compete all over Scotland and Lauren says the company has raised thousands of pounds for local and national charities over the last few years.

There are currently around 80 young people on the books and Lauren estimates she has taught more than 500 youngsters in her career so far.

Some of the determined young dancers train six days a week and Lauren travels to competitions 40 weeks of the year.

Lauren said: "I love being there for the good bits and bad bits in the studio - I get to see the young people push through the bad days and come out stronger.

"I've seen youngsters go through the whole process and we're now seeing older kids auditioning and going onto college.

"I'm really proud that I get to be part of that.

"By helping the young people achieve their dreams, I'm achieving mine as well."

*The Greenock Telegraph Community Champions Awards recognise, reward and celebrate the people who make our communities a better place.

The gala awards night - sponsored by Inverclyde Council and Platinum Paving - will take place on Friday May 5 at Greenock Town Hall.

You can help your local heroes get the recognition they deserve by nominating them online before March 30.

To find out more visit https://newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/greenockcommchamp