Dance to Health sessions start in Sheffield from 7^th December

In partnership with Yorkshire Dance and NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, Aesop is pleased to announce that Dance to Health sessions will start in Sheffield next month.

Dance to Health is a pioneering older people’s falls prevention dance programme developed by Aesop, an arts charity and social enterprise. It combines evidence-based physiotherapy with the creativity and energy of dance. Thanks to a £2.3 million expansion, the programme will run for two years from November 2017 involving over 800 older people and 800 volunteers. 63 programmes will be delivered across England and Wales in collaboration with regional Health and Dance Partners. 

The expansion programme is being delivered thanks to generous support from the Big Lottery Fund, Nesta and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Peter Sowerby Foundation, Rank Foundation, and the Aged Veterans Fund funded by HM Treasury.

NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, Aesop’s regional Health Partner, is also financially supporting the roll out of the programme.

Dr Anthony Core, Sheffield GP and Clinical Director for Care Outside of Hospital at NHS Sheffield CCG says –

‘We are delighted to be involved with Dance to Health and the opportunity this offers  to use an innovative and creative way to engage older people in activities and movement, which will increase their mobility and reduce falls. The taster sessions will be really popular in our local communities in the run up to Christmas and afterwards the regular sessions will provide the perfect start to the New Year. We hope this will be the start of a long and successful partnership arrangement with Yorkshire Dance and Aesop’.

Karen Hamilton, Dance to Health’s Head of Programme at Aesop says –

‘We are excited to be working with NHS Sheffield CCG, who have embraced our aim for Dance to Health to be offered to as wide a range of communities in the city as possible.  We look forward to complementing their strategic aims of person centred care and working together for healthier lifestyles. We are pleased to have the opportunity to develop our relationship with Yorkshire Dance, who share our commitment to improving health and wellbeing through dance and who have a long history of inspiring experience working with older people. Together we look forward to how the dance sessions will be shaped by older people in the community to give the sessions a genuine local identity’.

Dance to Health in Yorkshire is delivered by professional Dance Artists from Yorkshire Dance; Wieke Eringa, Artistic Director and CEO of Yorkshire Dance, says -

‘We’re delighted that Aesop has demonstrated confidence in Yorkshire Dance to be its partner for Dance to Health in our region. We are working on a range of partnership projects addressing issues related to age – among them inactivity, social isolation, Parkinson’s and dementia. It's gratifying to be able to add a falls-prevention programme to our work, and it's a significant boost to our efforts to become a national leader in providing beneficial, creative and fun dance activity for older adults’.

If you are an older person who has had a fall or is worried about falling, Dance to Health is a FREE and fun falls prevention session.

No Dance experience necessary!

Why not pop along to one of the sessions at:

1/ Verdon Street Recreation Centre – (Ladies Only)

Taster Session Thursday 7th December, 10am-12pm

Sessions every Thursday, 10am-12pm from January 2018

 

2/ Saint Augustine’s Church

Taster Session Wednesday 6th December, 10am-12pm

Sessions every Wednesday, 10am-12pm from January 2018

 

3/ Stocksbridge Community Leisure Centre

Taster Session Monday 4th December, 10am-12pm

Sessions every Monday, 10am-12pm from January 2018

Sessions last 60 – 90 minutes, with 30 minutes for refreshments at the end.

To find out more about the programme and how to sign up for the taster session or the sessions generally call Nesreen Shah, Dance to Health Coordinator Sheffield on 01993 870 159, email NesreenShah@ae-sop.org or visit www.dancetohealth.org/Yorkshire