What We Do
We promote inclusion, reduce isolation and improve health and well-being. We work mainly with older people and mental health service users although our classes are open to everyone and we also provide classes for other user groups. We are good at keeping classes going long-term; sustainability and therefore reliability, something isolated people can rely on is a major aim.
We provide events, sessions and classes in three main areas:- Exercise, Music and Digital. During lockdown we took all of our services online and as lockdown came to an end and we began going back into care homes and day centres which has doubled the number of events we do each month.
Before lockdown we were doing about 50/50 music and exercise but because most of the music took place in care homes and day centres with many of the oldest, most vulnerable groups, music more or less stopped.
However, our exercise classes were mostly in the community in partnership with libraries and community centres and attracted the ‘younger old’ who have fewer problems going online.
We have maintained our friendships and partnerships with all the organisations we worked with before lockdown and are back providing live in-person services for nearly all of them and also a lot of new partners.
We have attracted a much wider group of users since lockdown many who said they would continue to come to online classes after lockdown but wouldn’t come to live classes. Online classes are here to stay.
Our long-term aim is to maintain a relationship with these more isolated people and ensure we are able to continue providing them with a service.