fit-for-life – Reflections

It was a pleasure to have Julian back with us again.

Julian played some great tunes and as usual there were songs from several decades.

Today Julie was back to hold the 2nd Fit for Life Workshop. Julie had this to say about her visit. “It was a pleasure either seeing you again today or meeting you for the first time. Having returned after our first session not knowing what to expect I was overjoyed to see such amazing and confident sit to stands, even if it took a few attempts to fully stand it didn’t matter and do remember those initial mini lifts are building both strength and confidence. Almost more important, however, was witnessing a general attitude of ‘can do’ which was great to see.” It is great to see so many members taking part and improving their strength and balance.

Members love the opportunity to take to the dance floor.

Getting to know Team Member Tony

Tony has always liked exercise. In his younger days he used to run 50 miles a week! These days he still loves running and most Saturday mornings you will find him at a parkrun.

In addition, he loves sailing, snorkelling and tai chi. He has also recently returned to ballroom and latin dancing. He has been a vegan for the past 8 years and loves DIY. With all these active interests he makes the ideal choice for one of our activity leads.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 31st March 2026 at 1pm when Scott Elvis will be in the building.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Tony warmed up the room on a very cold day. Janet and I were sadly unable to be at the group today as we were both unwell. The group ran as usual in the good hands of our team.

The group enjoyed a medley of 50s/60s and 70s tunes including Tony favourites.

Tony dedicated Ring of Fire to Janet and Peter. So thoughtful of him and lovely to know we were missed.

Fitness for life

Today we launched a new initiative, our Fitness for Life Workshops. It is a well known fact that older people gradually lose strength and balance which puts them more at risks of falls. In an effort to help our members hold onto and build up on their strength, this year we are working with Julie, an Older People’s Fitness Coach who will be running short monthly workshops. There will be two 20 minute workshops in the first hour of up to 16 people per workshop.

Today’s workshop focused on leg strength, in particular movement patterns to build strength getting out of chairs. Adaptions were given to suit individual abilities. Julie can be seen here explaining to the group what they will be doing.

Introducing Julie

Introducing Julie: “During my 34 years working within the fitness world I have taught a wide range of classes, both in Clubs and independently, from crazy spin (where I first met Janet and Peter) through to peaceful stretch, run my own personal training business for 25 years, managed Health Clubs and more recently taught people in their homes via Zoom. As much as I’ve loved jumping up and down and shouting – or should I say ‘encouraging’ – people, very early on I realised that I enjoyed working with those people who wouldn’t necessarily be heading to the gym but who could benefit from being shown exercise that would both relate to and help them in their day to day living, so I began running classes and workshops within the community, working alongside local Community Nurses, Doctors Surgeries and Osteopaths. I feel very honoured to be now advising and helping people at Reflections.”

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 3rd March 2026 at 1pm when we will have Tom Carradine with his famous Cockney Sing-a-long.