From being a London-based community group, LEGS has now taken that sense of community onto a national scale by moving its neurophysio exercise sessions online. NR Times finds out about its expansion.
Having gone into the pandemic as a small community exercise group for people with neurological conditions, LEGS has now become an online rehab resource for people throughout the UK.
Initially holding sessions in a studio in Westminster, enabling people from the surrounding area to access its specialist physio-led supported exercise and social opportunities, its rapid transition to taking sessions online has seen the LEGS operation having to grow in tandem.
From two sessions a week pre-pandemic, LEGS has now ramped up its offering to ten online classes.
Participants come from as far afield as Northern Ireland, with the original community of people from Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea now becoming a truly national community, whose relationship continues to be built via interactive Zoom rehab sessions and a thriving WhatsApp social group.
And by thinking creatively, the charity has managed to access a number of funding opportunities, which has enabled the purchase of tablets for those who would otherwise be without the technology to allow them to join sessions.
A grant from the National Lottery allowed LEGS to increase its numbers of online sessions, while also enabling the creation of a London-based supported walking group.
“We’re a really small team but the demand we have seen since taking our classes online has meant we’ve had to work very creatively,” says Sarah Sparkes, lead physiotherapist at LEGS.
“In a matter of days, our online programme was created. Our research revealed Zoom was the best platform for people with cognitive difficulties, so very shortly afterwards, our online classes were born.
“But having previously held two a week in-person, the demand was very shortly there for that to increase to ten.
“The response has been amazing – we have participants from Northern Ireland and Lincolnshire, which has given a whole new definition to the community we’ve always worked so hard to help create. And through being able to provide the technology to those who would otherwise not be able to access our sessions, we’ve been able to include them too. We know that has made a massive difference.
“Our Twitter followers have also increased from around 80 pre-pandemic to well over 600 now, so we’re building a new community on there, too.”
And the community LEGS has helped to create is thriving, with participants seeing positive outcomes of their sessions.
“We do a physical assessment whenever someone joins and that is repeated at 12 weeks. We are seeing some great progress, the quality of engagement we’ve seen through doing sessions online has been great,” says Sarah, who combines her role at LEGS with working at St George’s Hospital in London.
“We were a bit concerned at first when we went online, as our sessions are £5 each, and there is so much free content out there. But we have realised that so many people realise the benefit of a professional doing their class, who tailors the sessions to their needs.
“We got some great reaction to our sessions, and we’ve found that most people like to have their sessions on gallery view – I think there’s a nice sense of support but also allows people to challenge themselves. If they see someone else doing something, it often spurs them on to be able to do it too.
“The relationships that have already been built are great. Sometimes I’ll come out of a shift at St George’s and there will be a huge amount of messages on the WhatsApp group to get through – it’s very vibrant and people are so keen to share the progress they’ve made, like they’ve managed a flight of stairs today. It’s very nice to be part of that.”
Going forward, while LEGS has not traditionally operated an online model, an online element will certainly continue, says Sarah.
“We’ll be adopting a blended approach, as we’ve seen how well it can work, I’m not sure I thought physio over Zoom could work so well but it has done,” says Sarah.
“From not really knowing how it would go, we have held Christmas and summer parties over Zoom, in addition to our classes, which continue to be so well received.
“We will definitely keep going with the online work, although will hopefully be able to return to face to face. There are so many people who have joined in with, and benefited from, our sessions during the past few months and we’ll continue to support them however we can.”
