Side by Side – grant recipient - Barnwood Trust

Side by Side – grant recipient

Boosting physical and mental wellbeing

Side by Side is a community dance company, currently running a dance project in hospitals for people with mental health problems, run by The 2gether NHS Foundation Trust.

Barnwood Trust funded this project, led by dance artist Lou Perry, in which 40 sessions of creative movement were made available to patients.

Shannette Bendall, Senior Occupational Therapist for 2gether, helped bring the project to the Charlton Lane Centre, a hospital in Cheltenham.

She has seen the positive impact movement can have for patients with dementia and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression:

‘It looks like fun, people don’t realise what the underlying medical benefits are... It’s very subtle but quite significant.’

Movement and interaction

People who may otherwise be inactive on the ward for long periods have found the movement sessions enjoyable, relaxing and stimulating.

A typical session allows participants to gently exercise all their muscle groups, to improve core stability, strength and coordination. Sessions also promote social interaction and can be a great ‘mood-booster’.

Creative participation

One activity involves each member of the group saying their name and one thing that they enjoy doing, which they then convey with a movement. The rest of the group then echo this movement and repeat it to music.

‘I like the idea of working with people to generate ideas rather than relying on the props’ says dance artist Lou Perry: ‘Some of us had never met before but we’ve [had] laughter, we’ve shared personal things, we’ve had fun together and we’ve exercised. We’ve breathed. What more could you ask for?’

Participants also speak highly of the sessions. For example:

‘If you sit all day it gives you a bit of motivation. It definitely makes you feel good’ (Murray). ‘I had a bad morning... I needed to lift my depression but I’m feeling a lot better now... I say to people get up, go in and have a go, because it’s quite relaxing’ (Margaret)

Continuing the good work

Having seen all these benefits, 2gether has now paid for staff to be trained in leading creative movement sessions:

‘This has been particularly beneficial for us’ explains Jez Leat, Matron Manager, at 2gether; ‘The patients seem to enjoy it. But also it’s been useful because the staff have gained another interest and learned some skills from it’.

This means the work will continue long after the grant from Barnwood Trust has been spent.

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