Well, some year it’s been and I’m so glad to be writing to you with the strengthening Spring sunshine beaming down and all the hope of Summer ahead. We really hope you and your team are doing ok and that you aren’t too bruised from the last 12 months? It’s been a difficult time in many ways but we have managed to keep working and to keep people connected, informed and supported through our work. Your funding has helped us to carry out this work and enable us to keep a face to face connection throughout the pandemic, delivering well-being packs and have real conversations with people at a time when they needed it most. Even though most of the year it has been physically distanced chats from the end of the path, we have built up an amazing rapport with our participants and have shared their journeys throughout lockdown. We have delivered weekly packs containing all sorts of activities, advice and entertainment from origami, growing packs, knitting, decoupage, puzzles, quizzes to information about vitamin D, hydration, fitness, mental health support . Mainly the packs have given us the chance to maintain that most valuable connection with our community in a genuine time of crisis when many activities, groups and organisations had to close their doors to the people they serve. We managed to run some face to face seated yoga sessions in between the lockdowns as well as our walking group when guidance allowed. As we are members of the Scottish Health Walking Network, we were allowed to run walks when other groups could not and our group has now returned with a maximum of 15 walkers with huge benefits to our members in mental and physical health. We’ve managed to host a wide array of online meet ups, activities and cooking sessions to check in and support people who we know to be shielding or who weren’t ready to venture back out and our online fitness classes have been well attended for the whole year as people realised they wanted to stay in touch and stay fit for when the time came to get back outside. This has been especially important for our older participants and for our mother and baby groups who in normal times benefit so much from meeting up in person and having that shared support from the community.
So, we’re slowly opening up again where we’re able to and our face to face seated yoga classes are due to re-start around 20th May. Other groups are starting again with limits and Covid safe protocol but the main thing is that we are coming through the worst of the restrictions and that we will be able to support more people in person again with every week that passes. After all, sharing real experiences with people face to face is what we love best!
