March 2020 in Banstead, Epsom & Ewell

Enrol in our Horticultural Therapy course, find out more about Bridging the Gap – our Young People project – and discover what’s happening this month in Banstead, Epsom and Ewell.

Connect Peer Support Group – Epsom

Last month, we launched our brand new evening group in Epsom, designed especially for people aged 17-25 years old, to help them improve their wellbeing though activities they plan and choose themselves. On our first evening, we saw everyone getting to know one another and overcoming any feelings of shyness or anxiety. It didn’t take long before four of them were up and playing table tennis, while the others relaxed with a cuppa and a chat. Our participants also decided on a name for the group and settled on ‘Connect’! Their next task is to establish what sort of activities they would like to do – such as walks, outdoor activities, art, boxercise, yoga, cooking, or gardening! Whatever they fancy!

The group is run by Sarah and Justin and volunteers Jen and Tara, who will be going along to sessions to help out.  The sessions will be held at Brickfield every other Thursday, from 6.30pm until 8.30pm. 

To attend this group, you need to register with us first, and book your place the first time you come, either by calling 01372 375400, texting 07929 024722 or emailing parvin@maryfrancestrust.org.uk or doing it online by using our course finder and filling in the ‘register your interest’ form. Once you’ve booked your place once, you don’t need to book again, you can come as regularly as you’d like.

Women’s group – Epsom

Our Sewing, Arts and Craft Women’s group at King’s Church, Epsom had another succesful term. One member completed a wonderful blanket. You can see the project’s progress from beginning to end – see pictures.

The group runs every Wednesday during term time, from 10.30am until 12.30pm.

Mosaics Course – Epsom

We had an overwhelming response to our Mosaic course in Epsom which finished on 21 February. Due to high numbers, we had to run two session, one after another over the three weeks. We’re in the planning stages of running more Mosaic sessions and will let you know when we start this again.

Tai Chi – Epsom

According to Chungliang Al Huang, Chinese philosopher, dancer, performing artist, and internationally acclaimed taijiquan master and educator: “Tai Chi does not mean oriental wisdom or something exotic. It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind and body together as one process”. 

As this was popular, we’re running another four-week session from 26 February 2020.

Classes run on Wednesdays from 4pm until 5pm at the Kung Fu & Tai Academy, 2nd Floor, Blenheim House, 1 Blenheim Road, Epsom KT19 9AP. Places are still available, so if you’re interested, please get in touch on 01372 375400, text 07929 02472 or email: parvin@maryfrancestrust.org.uk to book your place or register your interest online.

Horticultural Therapy – Banstead

We’re running a new Horticultural Therapy Course, in partnership with Work Stress Solutions. It will be led by qualified and experienced horticulturists. It started on 25 February and will run for 5 weeks from 10.30am until 12.30pm at the Banstead Youth Centre. It’s nearly fully booked but we can make room for more, so contact us ASAP if you’re interested.

Reading group – Banstead

Our Reading Group in Banstead is continually running on the first Tuesday of the month from 6pm- 8pm at the Banstead Youth Centre. Reading helps us to gain new perspectives, boosts teamwork skills and much more. We have completed reading Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in January and our next book is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which we will discuss on 3 March 2020. Members will be deciding a permanent name for the group – we’ll report back on this soon!

Diabetes Management – Banstead

Do you have Diabetes? Would you like to learn more on how to manage your mental and physical wellbeing in relation to Diabetes? Then register on our Diabetes course now, starting on 16 March for six weeks, from 10am until 12pm. A telephone assessment with Centre for Psychology (who will be running this course) is required to be eligible to participate. You can give us permission to pass your details (email/phone number) to them so they can call you, or call them yourself after registering with us. Contact Parvin on 07380857701 or at Parvin@maryfrancestrust.org.uk to book your place.

We had good feedbacks from participants from the Pain Management Course (also run by Centre for Psychology) They felt the sessions allowed them to think about pain in a different way and to find solutions in dealing with it through shared discussions.

Phoenix Youth Centre – Banstead

Do you want to be more physically active this year? We’re running two sporting activities at the Phoenix Youth Centre.

We had six people attending our Cricket evening taster session on 28 January at 6pm. The group has decided to run it on the last Tuesday of every month. Pop along to see what’s involved!

We’re also running our next Self-Defence Course, starting 5 March 2020. There are still places available. Come and boost your confidence by learning different techniques.

Contact Parvin now to book your place on 07380857701 or at Parvin@maryfrancestrust.org.uk

Upcoming course – Yoga in Epsom

We’re running an 8-week Beginners Yoga Course starting on 17 April, 2pm to 3pm at the Brickfield Centre, Epsom, KT17 1DL.

Want to suggest ideas?

If you’d like to suggest any new activity or group in the Banstead, Epsom and Ewell area, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Parvin on parvin@maryfrancestrust.org.uk or 07380857701

To see our full list of activities, please visit our Activities, Courses and Groups page or browse our interactive Calendar.

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