Yoga for Women

By Parmjit Sagoo

This project provided health and wellbeing support via online Yoga For Women sessions, reaching women of all backgrounds, aged 16 plus. The sessions were held across a 5 week period, exploring gentle yoga, breathing exercises and relaxation strategies.

The classes were specifically women only, providing a safe and confidential space for women to explore their own wellbeing. These sessions were attended by a wide range of women from all ages and backgrounds, included women looking for gentler and inclusive exercise, women experiencing anxiety and low moods, women who prefer the privacy of online classes and women with young families needing time for themselves. Our partnership with Mojatu Foundation ensured that we reached women from Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse communities, who often feel under-represented and uncomfortable in mainstream health and wellbeing spaces. In total we had 36 women taking part in sessions, some of them were regular attenders, while others came along when they could manage it.

SUPPORTING NEW AND EMERGING COMMUNITIES THROUGH COVID-19

Nottingham Equal has been successful with a grant application to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding to support New and Emerging Communities Through Covid-19. The Project will last for six months.

Nottingham Equal are working closely with the Mojatu Foundation to implement this Project, and a partnership of 23 community organizations are providing support to individuals, families, and community groups. In addition to the Nottingham Equal and Mojatu Foundation networks, the Project Partners also have wide networks, and have considerable knowledge, skills, and recent experience of facing the many challenges either of being a new arrival

or working with new arrivals in Nottingham.

This support includes; additional funding to provide a continuation of services to achieve the priorities in the New and Emerging Communities Programme, funding to provide additional services e.g. food and household items, mental health and wellbeing, and Covid 19 information, and conversation groups to enable learning from the experiences of New and Emerging Communities.

The Project has a small management group of three people ,which meets fortnightly. Two representatives from Nottingham Equal and one representative from the Mojatu Foundation. The Project Manager (Partnership Development) manages the Project with the support of key Project staff. The implementation of the Project is delivered through a team of six people, who include; the Project manager(Partnership Development),Project Manager (Partnership Co -ordination),Community Engagement Lead, Research Lead, Marketing, promotion and community officer, and Administrator and communications officer. with a Project Partner. The role of the contact person is supplemented by a range of other means of communication including zoom meetings of relevant partners e.g. Conversational groups. There is to be zoom meetings held during the morning and evening on the 21st October 2020.

Training opportunities for Project partners are to be provided on fundraising, social media, and organizational branding. This information will then be cascaded downwards to the many smaller community groups within the New and Emerging Communities. The first zoom training event on fundraising will take place on Thursday 12th November 2020. Project partners will monitor their contribution towards the support of New and Emerging Communities through Covid 19, with the Implementation Team bringing together both written evidence of both the outputs and outcomes of the Project, and use creative ways to demonstrate the involvement of community members e.g. audio, video ,artwork and leaflets. An important element of the Project’s evaluation will be recorded through case studies and will include; what difference the lottery funding has made, what has been achieved with the funding, and who have you worked with? This latter question will have different levels within the Project, has the Project has been partnership based from the outset. Not all of the New and Emerging Communities will have been supported through this Project, but a significant contribution will have been made to assist individuals, families, and communities from New and Emerging Communities in Nottingham.