Our Impact
Socially prescribed programmes in Scotland are part of a growing movement to improve well-being by addressing health in a holistic way. These initiatives connect individuals to non-clinical services within their communities, such as exercise classes, arts activities, and mindfulness practices. Designed to tackle issues like loneliness, stress, and chronic health conditions, social prescription is increasingly recognised as an effective complement to traditional healthcare. We have been running yoga classes in partnership with medical practices and on social prescription since 2019.
* Stats correct January 2025.
We currently have projects running in The Old Town, South Gyle, Craigmillar and Wester Hailes in the City of Edinburgh, Dalkeith in Midlothian, and Methil in Fife. All of these projects are funded through various local and national grants and awards.
ECY looks to ensure accessibility of high quality, trauma-informed yoga provisions by committing to the following:
Strategy
- Making classes free at the point of service and focusing on areas of social and economic deprivation.
- Having the resources and knowledge to access available grants and funds.
- Developing trusted relationships with key organisations and professionals embedded in each community to allow for trust in the service.
Practicalities
- Ensuring teachers are highly qualified and skilled, with lived experienced at the heart of our team.
- An emphasis on making sure teachers are well paid and appropriately supported.
- Offering safe supportive spaces with a minimum of two teachers and often a volunteer peer support worker.
- Including tea and refreshments as part of the service and paying teachers for that additional time and space holding.
- Clear communication and processes to make access easy for the referrers and referees.
- Comprehensive evaluations and monitoring processes to document impact and improve services.
Due Diligence
- Professional teacher support – CPD training, peer mentor support, regular team meetings, one to one supervision.
- Core team support – professional advisory panel support
- Centering the voices of the students – lived experience panel, comprehensive evaluation, and feedback opportunities.
- Strong emphasis on policies and procedures around safeguarding and ethics.
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Community Felt Impact
The majority of the people attending our classes have never tried yoga before. Feedback from our attendees demonstrates we are having a marked impact in the following areas:
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improvement in mood, confidence, and sense of self.
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improved emotional stability.
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improved quality of life.
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reduced isolation or loneliness.
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improved mental health.
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improved physical health or reduced pain.
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learned useful skills for managing stress outside of the yoga class.
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Reporting
Below are some examples of our most recent reports on some of the projects we currently run and the impact they are having in our communities.
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Timeline
We have been developing our programme of yoga on social prescription since 2018. The timeline below outlines the work so far.
2018 Development of our programme of yoga on social prescription began in 2018 when we worked alongside local GP and yoga teacher Ellie Heath to write a preliminary strategy HERE.
2019 We tested the model out in Craigmillar in 2019 and by 2023 we had a comprehensive programme running across several areas of the City of Edinburgh as well as Midlothian and Fyfe.Our first class on referral began in 2019 with a collaboration between Craigmillar Medical Practice and ECY. Craigmillar is an area of high deprivation with no access to trauma-informed yoga provisions. Jen Opara (then CPN Craigmillar) was keen to introduce wellbeing options for her patients and worked with us to set up a rolling 12-week programme for patients accessing both Craigmillar and Niddrie Medical practices. These trauma-informed chair-yoga classes named ‘Yoga For Health’ were influenced by the Yoga In Healthcare Alliance’s training “Yoga4Health” which John, the teacher completed in 2019. The classes ran from the medical centre itself and were free at the point of service and specifically targeted at people in recovery from the use of substances and or living with mental health conditions. The chair made the classes accessible for people with mobility issues and physical health conditions which are often seen together. Classes were multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi gendered. The classes were also supported by a second, assistant teacher. Something which has become a standard when offering community classes in this way.Referrals came directly from the medical centre, primarily mental health nurses and some GP’s, we also began to build reliable relationships with link workers and the classes thrived, often running at capacity.
2021 The pandemic in 2020 halted the classes and they returned in 2021 when we began to widen our net and look for referrals from other sources within the Craigmillar area. The classes continued at the medical centre, but in response to requests from service users, we also began a mat-based class in collaboration with The Thistle foundation, a local charity supporting people with long term health conditions. This also quickly because a popular and well used service for local people and so when we received the Communities Health and Wellbeing fund through EVOC
2022 In 2022 we then when on to add a third class at The Bothy, a charity which exists to support people living with and in recovery from substance use.We also started a collaboration with The Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust to offer another free mat-based, trauma-informed class at The Crannie, a space for community groups and events.
2023 In 2023, we received three years of funding through The Corra Foundation’s Local Support Fund to replicate this work in Wester Hailes. A chair yoga class runs from The Health Agency within the medical centre and a mat-based class in the local community centre. Both classes are specifically for people affected by substance use and their families. We also set up a chair class in Fife in Collaboration with Dr Dakin at Airlie Medical Practice. The weekly chair yoga class on social prescription in Methil Fife is held at the Community Education Centre. This class aims to reduce social isolation and improve mental and physical health issues. The class focuses on chair based movement and time for social connection. None of this would be possible without the generous support of The Coalfields Regeneration Trust – Our River Leven Community Fund.
2024 In 2024 funding from The National Lottery Community Fund covered another 2 years of funding to continue our classes in Craigmilar. With the support of the Midlothian Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults The award upported us to extend our programme of yoga on social prescription out to Midlothian. We partnered with agencies embedded in the Dalkeith community such as WomensAid and MELD app to offer a weekly trauma-informed chair yoga class for people in recovery from substance use or mental health issues and a monthly women’s trauma-informed yoga class. The Cruach Trust provided a contribution to cover twenty weeks of venue donations and tutor costs to allow us to continue our classes at the Gyle Community Space, the Gyle Centre Edinburgh. The funds enabled us to support free or ‘by referral’ spaces at our weekly based classes
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Research
Led by ECY director, Lorraine close, a research team from the University of Edinburgh School of Health in Social Science recently secured funding from the Carnegie Trust to conduct a Realist Evaluation of yoga programmes offered on social prescription run by ECY in areas of socio economic deprivation. This project will allow the team to look at ‘what works, for who and in what circumstance’ and aims to contribute to the field of understanding around the social prescribing process and how it is experienced by relevant stakeholders. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the evidence base published in this field.
Contact Lorraine.close@ed.ac.uk for more information.