Get Active and Connected with Age UK Barnet

Since October 2021, the London Borough of Barnet and Age UK Barnet have been running a new project: Get Active and Connected. This initiative is helping Barnet residents over the age of 55 get more active and get online by providing face to face exercise classes and online sessions including talks and group discussions.

Eighty laptops were donated by Barnet Council to be loaned to residents who don’t have their own devices. This laptop loan scheme has been very successful by giving access to online services and sessions without the financial commitment of purchasing a laptop or tablet.

The project continued to run most face to face exercise classes during the recent wave of COVID-19 (from December 2021), with only one class cancelled. The online sessions provided an important alternative for residents who didn’t want to venture out to in-person activities due to their health, helping to combat loneliness and isolation.

In January, at the peak of the recent COVID-19 wave, we ran a four-week online yoga session as part of Get Active and Connected which proved to be very popular. A resident who was losing her sight and awaiting a hip replacement took part and told us that she was so thrilled to be able to join in. She spoke emotionally about how she hadn’t been able to do something like that for years. These participants have now been encouraged to join the face to face yoga and exercise classes running under the Get Active and Connected project.

As well as the exercise and online classes, the Active and Connected coordinators give ongoing support to anyone struggling to use Zoom or a laptop. They can help residents with online skills like:

• setting up an email account
• using a device to stay in touch with family
• making shopping and paying bills easier
• learning how to store photos
• finding out more about the things they enjoy.

Feedback from participants across all Get Active and Connected activities has been positive. The weekly Sporting Memories online discussion group has been particularly popular, giving residents the chance to reminisce together about a range of sporting activities including the World Cup, their Sporting Heroes, and favourite Sporting Moments. The group provides opportunities for social interactions between participants in an entertaining environment.

An online group has been set up for Cantonese speakers in the borough. Participants are older people who had recently arrived in the UK from Hong Kong and are living with their families.  The first meeting provided an opportunity for residents to socialise and talk to others in their own language in a relaxed online setting. It also offered information about Age UK Barnet activities leading to some Cantonese speaking older people joining our weekly walking groups.

The aim of Get Active and Connected is to get people online permanently by giving them the skills, resources, and long-term support they need. Already, one resident has returned the loaned laptop so that they can purchase their own and stay connected online.

This programme is to continue until October 2022, with the hope that we can continue to help older residents in Barnet stay online permanently.

You can find out more about Get Active and Connected on the Age UK Barnet Website.