More mindful moments for Wythenshawe children

More local children will be able to enjoy free yoga and wellbeing sessions thanks to support secured by our Community Development team for Mindful Munchkins.

Mindful Munchkins provides free yoga and wellbeing sessions for children across our community. Run by qualified children’s yoga teacher Sam, the group gives children a welcoming place to build confidence, manage stress and anxiety, and feel more connected through yoga, mindfulness, breathing exercises and relaxation.

After meeting Sam and hearing what would make the biggest difference to the sessions, Flo, our Lead Community Development Coordinator, helped identify the equipment Mindful Munchkins needed. This included yoga mats, weighted blankets, bubbles, feathers and a storage trolley.

Our teams then worked together to find a way to get that support in place. Shannon, our Contract Manager, worked with supplier GMS Services Ltd. to secure more than £500 towards the equipment through its existing social value commitment.

And that means more opportunities for local children. With the new equipment, Mindful Munchkins can build on its free sessions and give even more children the chance to relax, learn new skills and look after their wellbeing.

It’s also a great example of how we put Asset-Based Community Development into practice. Put simply, that means starting with the strengths, skills and connections that already exist in our community, then working together to help them grow.

Rather than deciding what a group needs, we listen to them, understand what’s already working and look at how we can help make their ideas go further. For Mindful Munchkins, that meant listening to Sam, identifying what would make a real difference and using our relationships with suppliers to help make it happen.

It’s this work behind the scenes that helps our Community Development team connect local ideas with the right opportunities and resources – helping brilliant community projects build on what they already do best.

Sam from Mindful Munchkins said: “We are so excited and grateful for the generosity of GMS for our new yoga equipment. This will massively help us run our all-inclusive children’s mindfulness and yoga sessions within the community, which we run from the Crossacres hub on Tuesdays.”

If your team has something to offer, or you know a group that needs a hand, let our Community Development team know here. We’re always looking for new connections!