A BROTHER and sister duo who have seen great success in tap dancing are the joint winners of Wimborne Rotary Club’s Young Achievers of the Year award.

18-year-old Jude and 14-year-old Nell Feltham are tap dancers for Team GB and were unanimously selected for the award by the judging panel.

This is the first time the award, which is funded by Wimborne Rotary in partnership with the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation, has been given to joint winners.

The pair received £500 to help them pursue their ambitions to be part of Team GB at the World Championships in Prague this October.

Jude has overcome great adversity to win this award, as the talented dancer was diagnosed with leukaemia just two weeks after travelling to Germany in 2019, where he picked up bronze and gold medals, cementing himself as a world champion.

He underwent daily chemotherapy from December 2019 to March 2023, but he didn’t let this deter him, as while he was still on treatment, he went to the World Championships in Croatia in November 2022 and finished eighth with his solo and won a silver medal with his trio.

That year Nell was also selected for Team GB at just 12 years old and won two silver medals.

Sue Young, president of Wimborne Rotary, said: “We are delighted to present this year’s award to Jude and Nell, who by their achievements have demonstrated all the qualities that we want to see in young people today.

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“They are to be congratulated on their achievements to date, and we wish them well for their future success.”

In 2023, the duo both competed in Germany, returning with five medals between them, and both as World Champions.

Last year Nell secured a silver medal, and Jude, who for the first time was competing in the adult category, became the overall best adult tap dancer in the world, winning four gold medals and coming fourth as an adult male soloist.

They both love to perform other styles of dance, acting and singing and train locally with Mainstage Performing Arts.

Nell is taking Dance GCSE at QE school, whilst continuing privately to take grade exams in tap, ballet and singing.

Jude attends the Dorset Foundation College for Performing Arts in Ferndown. He wants to pursue a career in musical theatre and will be going to university in September.