Birmingham Parkinson’s community invited to 'Move and Shout'

Move and Shout is a new 12-week physical activity pilot which starts in April and is being funded by Parkinson’s UK. The classes will be delivered and managed by Places Leisure with the aim of helping more people be active and live well with Parkinson’s across the West Midlands.

Five Places Leisure venues have been selected to host the new exercise pilot in England, including West Bromwich Leisure Centre, Moor Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B70 7AZ.

The pilot will focus on promoting fitness, mobility and wellbeing for people living with Parkinson’s, while also creating awareness and understanding of the condition in local communities.

Places Leisure instructors will also receive specialist training from Parkinson’s UK to give them a better understanding of the condition and help them work with the Parkinson’s community to deliver more effective physical activity programmes.

The 12-week programme will include weekly physical activity classes with each session featuring structured exercises from trained instructors.

People with Parkinson’s, their relatives and carers are all welcome to participate and each class costs £2.50 per person. Classes can be booked through a Places Leisure online booking system.

All participants receive complimentary 12-week gym-only memberships, including an induction and regular catch-ups with a Level 3 GP Exercise Referral instructor. At the end of the 12-week pilot, participants will be given the opportunity of joining the Exercise Referral Scheme membership at a discounted rate.

Jonny Pickering, Head of Healthy Communities for Places Leisure, said:

“We know that physical activity has many benefits, one being improvement in brain function.

“This is why this pilot is so important, particularly as Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world and there are currently around 153,000 people in the UK living with the condition.

“We are excited to see the results over the coming months and continue working with Parkinson’s UK in the long term.”

Tim Morton, Physical Activity Programme Lead at Parkinson’s UK, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Places Leisure on the delivery of their new Move and Shout project for people living with Parkinson’s.

“We hope that more people will be able to take advantage of the new offer in the selected areas and be able to live well with their Parkinson’s.

“Being active is one of the best ways to manage Parkinson’s symptoms as regular physical activity can improve both long-term physical and mental wellbeing. Plus, physical activity offers great social opportunities for people with Parkinson's to enjoy."

For more information about Places Leisure, how you can register for the new Move and Shout sessions and to find your nearest participating centre, visit https://www.placesleisure.org/.