Lisa Voyle explains how a community project in the Valleys has moved online since the outbreak
Hapi (Healthy, Aspiring, Prosperous and Inclusive) is a Big Lottery community funded project hosted by Newydd Housing Association that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of residents across the Cynon and Taf Ely Valleys within Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Our project is themed around physical activity, food and nutrition, emotional wellbeing, digital inclusion and education, training and employment. We deliver a variety of activities including walking rugby, healthy cooking on a budget and digital plus a wide variety of training and employment opportunities in partnership with Communities for Work and Rhondda Housing Association.
In the wake of Coronavirus we are unable to deliver our activities in a traditional community setting but we wanted to keep in touch with our participants. We decided to try Facebook Live and to upload videos for residents to access during social isolation, so we contacted our providers to see if they would be interested in trying this method of delivery, to which most of them said yes.
As a result we quickly (within two days) put a schedule together which started in March. Activities include Sing along with Steve, Pilates with Mel, Family Fit, Rockatots (singing and dancing with your little ones) and various singing classes and we have uploaded a cooking video too. This has been a great way of us not only engaging with residents but it is also providing regular income for our providers who would otherwise be out of work.
Our Facebook insights show how well our digital delivery has gone. We are continuously seeking tutors to deliver in this way and we are already creating new content (to keep it fresh and engaging.
We have been blown away with how well received these activities have been this week and have had many messages/comments on how much residents across RCT and further afield are enjoying the activities.