Inclusive inter-generational Yoga/Zumba fun club + healthy diet + mental health support for disadvantaged inactive women
The Pitch
Problem statement
We work in Northolt and Southall which are among the 20% most deprived areas in England (IMD,2019). We work with underserved inactive vulnerable voiceless women who mostly live in overcrowded conditions, no garden, at risk of domestic violence, low income, negative self-image, poor diet, social anxieties, mental and physical health conditions, overweight etc. Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted them as they are at greatest risk. They need to break out of the prison of loneliness. Many of our users live inactive lifestyles as they are unemployed, suffer from social anxieties and fear being judged if they go to a gym(if they can afford it).
Solution
Our inclusive yoga/zumba club encourages users to bring their friends and grandmothers to cultivate intergenerational understanding and compassion. Elderly isolated BAMER women told us they enjoy Yoga and meeting new people, forming new friendships. Our fun sessions break their fears by letting them bring their relatives and friends so they can all exercise together in a safe relaxed environment. We will give them mental health support and educate them on healthy diet. We are fighting the mental health stigma by providing discreet support. We cross refer women to our culturally responsive counselling service run by our qualified multi-lingual counsellors who are women from the same community
Why are we best placed to deliver?
We are deeply embedded in the community and have been serving hard-to-reach disadvantaged women for years through many projects. Most of our staff are considered sisters/friends rather than outsiders. Our staff have strong buy-in and are deeply embedded in the community which enables us to coproduce community-led projects like this one here. We also have established demand from women who benefitted from our yoga pilot project and told us about their needs and problems. We have been serving the community since 2005 and our good track record means that we are the first port of call or last resort for many in their difficult times. We singpost and refer our users to our wide range of support
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| Yoga/Zumba instructor £25/hr * 2 hrs/session *2 sessions per day * 10 weeks | £1,000 |
| Project Coordinator who is also a Mental health support worker £15/hr * 8 hrs/day *1 day per week * 10 weeks: Educating users on healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, social eating | £1,200 |
| Volunteers 2 volunteers/day * 1 day per week* 10 weeks* £10 per day for lunch and transport | £200 |
| Venue hire £25/hr * 4hrs per day * 1 day per week * 10 weeks = £1,000 In-kind support from other local CSOs who have previously supported us or from a local community centre | £0 |
| Accessibility costs £30/week * 10 weeks: Transporting and accompanying SEND women who need external support to/from sessions | £300 |
| Central costs at 11% of project cost: 11% * £2,700 Supervision, line management, safeguarding, compliance, insurance, office, internet, stationery, printing, HR etc. | £300 |
Beneficiaries
27 people
Expected impact
By the end of project, 70% of participants will report at least 5 of the following outcomes:1-Doing exercise on a regular basis 2-Increased satisfaction with their lives 3-Made new friends 4-Received high quality instruction, support and guidance 5-Comfortable mixing with people from other backgrounds 6-Improved physical/mental health 7-Confident in managing their MH or seeking specialist help 8-Learned about healthy diet according to the NHS Eat well guide 9-Learned about healthy cooking 10-Shared with the group at least one healthy recipe 11-Change towards more active lifestyle 12-Signed up to a support group that meets virtually (on Whatsapp) or face to face. To measure the outcomes:- Warwick-Edinburgh Mental well-being scale(WEMWBS):- Attendance register- Staff observations and records to detect user satisfaction and engagement- Participants' own comments/feedback sheets- Feedback from MH or medical professionals- Feedback from families/friends of participants
Track record
We ran a social club for inactive isolated elderly BAMER women over several years. We gave them the external support to access treatment by transporting & accompanying participants to hospitals, GP, etc. At the same time, we ran a Yoga/Zumba club for inactive women and girls. The club was very popular to the extent that it attracted grandmothers. We introduced Yoga/Zumba as a pilot to the elderly isolated women social club to assess its impact on them in comparison with the grandmothers in our sports club. Despite their mobility issues, our elderly isolated women enjoyed it and word spread in the community about the significant improvement to physical and mental health of this vulnerable group causing oversubscription to the club. Because of lockdowns and shielding, our users faced more challenges and MH issues e.g. increased isolation, bereavement, hardship, long covid etc. This project builds on our successful track record, insights and requests for the project from this usergroup