I HAVE done many things for this newspaper, including bunny-hopping around Pollok Park with dozens of toddlers, hi-hacking shoppers on Dumbarton Road – with the help of Kirsty Wark - and ‘persuading’ them to buy flower posies in aid of the Maggie’s Centre; and running the 10k.

(I also allowed a previous editor to talk me into dressing up as a clown to interview an elephant but that’s a story for another day.)

However, the most fun thing I have ever done in the name of work was learning how to foxtrot in order to take part in our world-record attempt at staging the biggest tea dance ever.

It was part of the Evening Times Glas-goals campaign, a hardhitting health initiative which aimed to tackle the city’s poor health record and it went on to be an awardwinning and publicly acclaimed success story.

Amid all the serious stuff about reducing smoking rates and increasing physical activity, was the tea dance, a glorious and sometimes hilarious afternoon in George Square which resulted in us, indeed, claiming the record and being recorded in the 2012 edition of the famous Guinness World Records book.

(That’s a huge achievement in itself, incidentally, as fewer than one in ten of the records kept by Guinness make it into the book.)

The day was great fun for me, but what stays in my memory is how much it meant to so many of the 306 couples – mostly pensioners – who took part.

They were happy to dance in the open air, reviving old memories and reliving their teenage years, recalling memories of the old dance halls of Glasgow. I could have listened to their stories all afternoon.

It all came flooding back this week when I got the chance to write about Glasgow’s tea-dance scene again – this time for another, equally successful and awardwinning Evening Times campaign, Streets Ahead.

Men and women in their 70s and 80s, many of whom live on their own, got together at a handful of events across the south side of Glasgow to drink tea, meet new people and, of course, dance.

The dances, organised by Glasgow Housing Association and Glasgow Life, feature French fancies and fancy footwork, with big bands and great singers.

Of course there is a serious point – reducing isolation amongst elderly people is a priority, and helping our older friends and neighbours to stay active is essential. But mainly, it’s about joy. The joy of dancing, friendship and cake.

“I had a great time, up dancing and chatting to people all day,” 80-year-old jive fan Agnes Lee summed it up. “Dancing brings people together.”