Page 20 - br-may-2020

May 2020 May 2020
A number of our local fitness instructors
have ‘gone digital’. If you have
BERE REGIS NEWS LOCKDOWN WELLNESS access to the internet, you may find
the following information useful

Reacting to the new normal....A Pilates instructor’s view
BERE REGIS PARISH COUNCIL As this crisis unfolded, I very quickly realised that continuing to offer ‘face to face’
Pilates sessions...in the traditional way...in a village hall, was no longer an
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Chairman: Ian Ventham 471480 ianrventham@gmail.com option. The last class I taught was March 16 ...much has changed since
then, for me, my faithful customers and for the rest of the world.
Vice Chairman: Bryan Benjafield 07969 bryan@cheapprintingdorset.co.uk Within hours, I had set up a facebook page for
770890 my pilates customers to become a community. I
had been a member, but never engaged with
Parish Clerk: Amanda 472327 bereregispc@gmail.com facebook. Many of my customers either did not
Crocker want to be on facebook, or did not know ‘how’
to navigate this new method of
Websites: www.bereregisparishcouncil.co.uk communication. Together, we had to learn a
www.bereregis.org new language. Another buzz word has been
Zoom, this software has enabled me to teach
classes as if we were all in the room together.
The Parish Council met very briefly by video These digital platforms have undoubtedly
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conferencing on Thursday 9 April. This was by way of allowed many people to stay connected, to stay
experimenting with the technology with which most
of us are unfamiliar, and to discuss how our future motivated and to stay active.
meetings can be made accessible to the public. If It has been an absolute gift to have my family all
you have any questions for a future meeting, please back together under the same roof. Trying to find a quiet space to teach from
email them as detailed below. home has been challenging, as our grown up family of 4 struggle to now all work
from home. Sharing & caring now refers to not hogging the bandwidth rather

than the shower!
COVID19
We might not have lots of space, but we have plenty of time to learn something
Members discussed the range of measures that had new and pay a little more attention to our own mental and physical well
been put in place by the Parish Council and others to being. Although there are so many things we cannot do at the moment...Pilates
assist residents during the pandemic, under the is something we can do anytime anywhere....Perfect for us at home, without any
banner of BereConnect, and were satisfied that at equipment.
present there was little more we could do.
Despite all normal activities being suspended, I am busier than ever trying to

access all the people who may have felt left behind by technology. For those
Rowlands Wait Caravan Park not lucky enough to have a house full, connecting through social media or even
email can be a lifeline which I hope will help get them through this strange
The council was very unhappy that planning episode in our lives. ‘Content’ ‘platform’ ‘meeting ID’ all phrases which a
law makes no distinction between towed month ago would have meant nothing to me! I have had to learn, to adapt and
caravans occupying pitches at a touring site to be creative with the way I continue to provide Pilates content to my many and
for a week or two at a time, and so-called varied participants...I call them the LPP’s (Lovely Pilate People) as they have
mobile homes occupied by year-round been so gracious in allowing me to experiment with them and develop a new
residents. The owners of the site are way of being. It was a steep learning curve for all of us...I hope the curve is going
proceeding with works at the site authorised to flatten out soon – although I am still learning every day, how to adapt to this
by a Certificate of Lawfulness issue by the
new way of living and connecting with people.

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