Friends, family and kind-hearted strangers united to help smash a world record in memory of a beloved dad. 

The event was organised by Jack Baxter and his mother Gaynor, who are running the London Marathon for St Francis Hospice in memory of husband and dad Dave Baxter, who died of skin cancer in 2013. 

Dave, a contractor from Brentwood working with Ford in Dunton, was diagnosed in 2013 with Malignant Melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer which had spread to his lungs and liver and his GP referred him to Saint Francis Hospice, based in Havering-atte-Bower, for specialist care.

To boost their fundraising for the hospice, Jack and Gaynor, alongside their Team Baxter teammates James Sapwell, Jack Kennedy, Max Fitch and Andy Gray, the pair wanted to break the Guiness World Record for the Most People to Dance to Oops Upside Your Head. 

They needed at least 258 people in total to take part and were thrilled to get almost double that on the day - an amazing 491 people took part in the attempt on Shenfield Common, raising an extra £2,800 towards their fundraising. 

Former Brentwood councillor James Sapwell, 25, said: “We set out to hold the world record attempt for the most people dancing to Oops Upside your Head by the Gap Band.

“We were a little overwhelmed by the response on the day. People came down from London and Southend to take part. People we didn’t even know just turned up to help."

At 1.55pm 333 people had queued and got in to the area on Shenfield Common reserved for the record attempt.

As they passed under the orange Saint Francis Hospice gazebo people made donations with many giving more generously than the suggested £5 per person joining the record attempt.

By 2.05pm there were 491, the sun came out and after a warm up to the song YMCA by the Village People, it was time for everyone to rock and row their way to the Guinness World Record for the most people dancing simultaneously to Oops upside you head by the Gap Band.

Linda Borg, from the fundraising team at Saint Francis Hospice said: “This was an incredible effort by Team Dave Baxter and everyone who came along. The atmosphere was brilliant. Everyone was so happy and positive and we absolutely smashed the previous record!”

Gaynor said: “Just before going in to the hospice’s inpatient unit we had seen an oncologist at Bart’s Hospital and everyone thought Dave had just days to live but the excellent care and treatment he received when he stayed at the hospice was transformative.

"They completely managed his symptoms during his two-week stay and Dave went from being confined to bed, completely incapacitated to a semblance of his normal self.

Jack added: “I’m forever grateful to Saint Francis Hospice for the extra time we got to spend with my Dad.

"I’ve made two promises as a result of what happened to him.

"The first is to always be aware of Melanoma, the fifth most common cancer in England – my brother and I now have regular mole checks and try to make others aware of the dangers of using sunbeds and not using sun creams, and the second is to always support the hospice."

You can still make donations to support Team Dave Baxter at uk.viirginmoneygiving.com/TeamDaveBaxter.