THE mother of a Wem dancer whose dance group has reached the semi-finals of a BBC show is calling on support from Shropshire residents.

Hermione Allmark, who attends Thomas Adams School in Lowe Hill Road, is one of nine dancers in the Dean Bates Collective, which has come under the wing of superstar Cheryl as one of the judges in The Greatest Dancer.

Loretta Smith, who accompanies her daughter to her classes while partner Mark looks after their other children, says her daughter and her group mates have come together under one banner from all over the country, and hope to get public help to reach the finals.

“We’re hoping that people in Wem and all over Shropshire can get behind them,” she said. “They dance in the live show on Saturday and then they release the numbers. You can vote online too.

“Please give them your support.”

Loretta says Hermione, 15, has worked her socks off to reach this point and praised the mentality of the group, who hail from as far away as Scotland, to come together and dance.

And she admitted her and partner Mark are incredibly proud of her daughter as she balances a tilt at professional stardom with her school work, with her GCSEs on the horizon.

“Hermione started dancing when she was 10 though she did gymnastics for a few years before that too,” added Loretta.

“She started out with the Alisha Jayne Dance School about five years ago. She then started at a dance school in Liverpool called Studio 76, where she dances with girls from all over the country.

“There are nine girls in the Dane Bates Collective – one girl comes from Scotland, two of them come from Liverpool, two come from north Wales, one from Wolverhampton, two from Leicestershire, and of course my Hermione.

“The group usually practices in Liverpool but they also hire a room across the country if they need to, especially if they’re in London for The Greatest Dancer like in recent weeks.

“But more often than not, they train in Liverpool because it’s central to them all, especially the girl from Scotland.

“They range from 13-19 but Hermione is 15.

“We’re obviously very proud of her as it’s a great experience for them at such a young age.

“It’s great for them as it’s a glimpse into the world of showbusiness. It’s whetting their appetite for what they want to do and it’s good reward for them as they train so hard.

“Three of them are doing their GCSEs this year too, including Hermione and they do their work on the train – they work so hard.”

The Greatest Dancer is presented by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon alongside Jordan Banjo, and is on BBC1 on Saturday at 7.35pm, running for 90 minutes.