IT’S the place where Summer Reber feels most at home – and where she transforms the lives of those she works with.

Summer leads a unique dance school for adults and children with special needs and disabilities, which meets at St Alban’s Church in West Leigh. Each Tuesday and Saturday she and her volunteer team run the Identical School of Dance in its church hall.

Those with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and any other disability – including those in wheelchairs – are able to learn dance routines, express themselves and build confidence in their own ability through her gentle encouragement and high expectations. They can learn TikTok dances, act out big musical numbers or throw themselves into a Gangnam-style solo routine.

And for Summer, St Alban’s Church is the right place to do this. She and her four children were baptised there, her family grew up there, and she joins in Sunday services.

“This church and church hall have such memories for me,” she said. “I’ve been part of this community since I was born, and it feels like home. It’s where I attended Sunday School, and performed myself as a child. Everything I learnt about God and Jesus was in this church. And when my children ask questions about faith, this is where I hope they can find the answers.

“But it’s also a place where we share the same kind of values. I want this dance school to be a place where everyone is valued, there’s no judgement, and where no one is looked down on because they are different. That’s what I hope church is like as well.”

Summer, who is now 26, grew up in West Leigh – her nan lived in St Alban’s Road and she went to St Alban’s C of E Primary and Oaklands RC School in Waterlooville.

At her secondary school, she had a friend whose brother had autism and she found she made a connection with him. That friendship was one of the things that inspired her and others to create the Identical School of Dance seven years ago.

“There wasn’t anything like this for children or adults with additional needs,” she said. “Mainstream dance companies do promote inclusion, but unfortunately do not always have the staffing required to cater for children’s additional needs, although they try their hardest. At Identical, we remain small with many volunteers to support our dancers and we all equally shine!

“We want to show we’re all actually the same – those with special needs and those without. That’s why we chose the name ‘Identical School of Dance’. Here no one is different, we’re all the same.

“Our motto is ‘Believe, Achieve, Succeed’ and we have that printed on our t-shirts. It’s all about dancing to have fun, to build confidence and to make real friendships. Some of those who come to the dance school are now able to take part in school assemblies, or join in school discos or at birthday parties. They might never have done anything upfront before, but now they can. Or perhaps they weren’t used to louder music and now they are.

“There was one young person who was signed off from physiotherapy because the dancing had helped with their mobility. And I remember one 17-year-old who said he previously had nowhere to go to make friends with people like him. Every week he wanted to show us a video he had found, so that became part of the session because it was important to him.”