Afro Aerobics – Beating a drum and getting fit in Brockley

An aerobics class held its first sessions after receiving funding in the shape of a £1,000 grant from Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme.

St Andrew’s Church in Brockley applied for a grant to make its Afro Aerobics for our Community vision a reality.

The first session took place on Thursday, March 14 and 10 people came along to join in.

The aerobics classes are accompanied by live African Caribbean drummers, providing the community with a unique experience and promoting a healthy lifestyle through fun.

Participants also have the opportunity to learn drumming.

Bags of Help, along with charity Groundwork, allows Tesco customers to vote each time they shop for three local community projects to receive funding from the sale of Bags for Life.

Ethel Punter, youth worker in charge at St Andrew’s Church and the co-ordinator of the Afro Aerobics initiative, said: “St Andrew’s Church is at the centre of the Brockley community both physically and culturally, and is used by people of all ages who attend a variety of groups including this one.

“We hope that these Afro Aerobics classes will become a permanent activity, contribute to people getting to know one another and help our community come together to become healthier in body and mind.

“We’d like to thank all of the Tesco customers in the area who took the time to vote for this project to receive funding.”

Alec Brown, Tesco’s head of community, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers, who get to decide how the money will be spent in their community.”

Groundwork’s national chief executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down the UK to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them.

“The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that communities have a passion to create something great in their area.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities.

Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online.

To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.