The sessions were provided to people who have suffered mental illness – but there is a shortage of volunteers.
The Star Hub in Splott has provided free Tai Chi sessions since December and it will end later this month. They centre is looking for new activities to help people deal with stress.
Tai Chi is a series of movements that can improve both physical and mental balance.
Jeanette Edwards is a volunteer at the Tai Chi sessions. She says, especially after the Covid Pandemic, more people suffered loneliness while the support of old generation’s mental health is not enough.
Jeanette Edward said, “The reason I started teaching Tai chi session after the Pandemic is that everyone suffered loneliness and that caused stress, especially for my generation and elderly people who live alone. At the beginning, our session only has 10 people because of Covid restrictions, now we have over 30 people.”
More than 30 people have participated in the free Tai Chi session every Monday. Physical exercise, free talk and skills training classes are available for them. These sessions can help them relax and have time to talk about their experiences.
Colin Fleming suffered mental illness for many years. He says staying at home alone made him feel stressed. When he coming to this session, he can communicate with others and share his feeling about others. He thinks such session helped them a lot.
“At that moment, my life is very stressful and this session gives me a chance to communicate with people. I think communication like this can take my stress away, nevertheless when I stayed at home, I felt very stressful”, said Colin Fleming.
In addition to Tai Chi sessions, the Star Hub also provides digital skills training to people, and they hope more people pay attention to older people’s loneliness. They also hope to recruit more volunteers to support them.