When Covid restrictions began, the LA had to suspend our popular Support and Connect face-to-face Hubs in limb-fitting centres in Essex, Bristol, Manchester and Hull.
Thanks to funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, we were able to move this much-needed support online. With this funding, the Virtually Speaking programme began in September 2020.
We now deliver a range of online Support and Connect events and activities to help our members from across the UK feel supported and connected, from the comfort of their home! This includes weekly Hub Chats, themed talks on useful topics relating to limb loss, accessible yoga sessions and other social activities.
Evaluation over the first six months shows that Virtually Speaking has been very successful. We produced this short video featuring some of our members explaining why our support is so important to them.
We delivered 28 Hub Chats through Zoom plus 13 themed talks. Topics included prosthetics, mental health after trauma, disability and discrimination in the workplace and travel. 78% of respondents described the themed talk they attended as ‘excellent’ and 22% as ‘good’.
The yoga sessions on Facebook have been viewed 1,896 times.
We also ran a six-week Wellbeing for All course at the start of this year. Following this course, 100% of respondents agreed that they felt more positive/confident after each session. 75% described the course as ‘excellent’ and 25% as ‘good’.
Overall, 100% of respondents said they would recommend Virtually Speaking events to other amputees and their families.
To find out more about our Virtually Speaking events and join our friendly online community, please visit the events calendar on our website. In addition, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on other LA events.
