In 2021-22 as we emerged from lockdowns and the Covid pandemic village halls were in desperate need of new bookings to generate income. Also, older people, fearful of socialising but desperate for company, needed safe activities taking place in their communities to attend. A partnership opportunity with Get Berkshire Active presented itself that had the potential to address these two issues simultaneously.

By the end of March 2022 and the end of a project funded by Get Berkshire Active using Sport England funding, 7 of the 10 seated exercise classes for older people established by CCB in rural communities were continuing beyond the end of the project. In one case the parish council agreed to fund the classes. In other areas, learner fees were sufficient to enable the class to continue. This demonstrated the sustainability of the activities established by this project and we decided to seek funding to further test the replicability of this success.

This year we successfully obtained funding from the McCarthy Stone Foundation to support the delivery of seated exercise classes to older people in the village of Hermitage. It is our ambition to find further sources of funding to replicate our learning from these projects and see more classes that our free or low cost so that people in our rural communities can be active no matter their age or physical abilities.

Quote from a Seated Exerciser; “Always nervous to go along to exercise classes for fear of feeling silly, but these classes are so easygoing, welcoming. Everyone becomes friends and you don’t feel silly as there’s no pressure. I do feel a little stronger in my limbs but it’s the friendships that are most important.”