High Sheriff and Mayor of Wisbech ‘Love to Move’ at the Alan Hudson Centre

The High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Francis Burkitt and Mayor of Wisbech, Lucie Foice-Beard, had a wonderful time visiting the Alan Hudson Centre on Wednesday 30 September.

They joined in with the monthly ‘Love to Move’ group with patients who visit the Centre for support and treatments for an advancing serious illness.

‘Love to Move’ is a science backed, chair based programme, developed by the British Gymnastic Foundation, with a focus on cognitive wellbeing and physical movement, set to music. Patients have been taking part on alternate Wednesday mornings at the Alan Hudson Centre in Wisbech, since 2024.

Complementary Therapist, Sarah-Fay was delighted to access the training and funding via Active Fenland, to roll out these groups at the Centre, with the support of three volunteers.

The movements used during the ‘Love to Move’ programme can help to develop coordination, balance, core strength and flexibility. It consists of several different coordination exercises and involves gross motor and fine motor skills, visualisation exercises, tapping rhythms and speech. Some activities include crossing the midline with focus on bilateral asymmetrical movements (which means doing different things on each side.) These more challenging movements can help build cognitive reserve, which is the brain’s resilience to illness and ageing.

The act of trying to do something difficult, increases coordination skills and can lead to the development of new neural pathways in the brain. Sarah commented:

“It was great to welcome the High Sheriff and the Wisbech Mayor to the Centre and introduce them to some of our patients at the ‘Love to Move’ group. I am sure they agreed that the classes are fun – we laughed a lot. We also had some well deserved refreshments and a chat afterwards, as the social aspect is equally important for wellbeing.”

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To find out more about the Alan Hudson Centre services please visit arhc.org.uk/ahc or telephone 01945 669620.