At the beginning of the year I began to develop a dance offer in my local borough of Hackney that would support local people with neurological conditions in rehabilitation or living with chronic disease to access high quality community dance activity.
With my experience and skills in working with people with Parkinson’s I started there and I am delighted that after nine months of planning and collaborating I am working with St. Joseph’s Hospice to launch this new opportunity for people with Parkinson’s in Hackney https://www.stjh.org.uk/event/dancing-parkinsons-pilot-programme
Dance for Parkinson’s community class, People Dancing Summer School 2016, photography by Rachel Cherry
The pilot Dancing with Parkinson’s programme at St. Joseph’s Hospice aims to connect with those most isolated in Hackney and provide an uplifting and social dance opportunity for them to join in celebrating the joys of moving within a local setting that they feel comfortable in.
I am delighted to collaborate with St. Joseph’s Hospice as together we will provide complementary expertise in high quality support, service provision and dance for people with Parkinson’s. The classes will provide an artistic, creative and sociable activity giving people the opportunity for escapism and freedom from day to day life with Parkinson’s.
This is the start of my ambition to research and develop a wider programme of dance opportunities with the potential to support people living with other chronic neurological health conditions, in direct collaboration with grass roots health services in Hackney…
Find out more about the pilot for people with Parkinson’s by downloading the project flyer here