October is well and truly upon us – along with the predictably grey and dull weather.

The beginning of October also means that Halloween is only weeks away. PACE members recently spent the 11th PACE online session discussing ideas on how to celebrate the scary holiday in an online setting.

Before this, the group discussed what they have been up to. The overriding sentiment is with the lack of PACE Multi-Sports session for over half of the year – combine this with the nation-wide restrictions – a few PACE members are starting to feel some negative effects of lack of exercise.

As a response to this rising concern, last month, with PACE Presents, we established a weekly online exercise class currently scheduled for Wednesdays at 11.30am, lasting for 45 minutes. The classes are curated and demonstrated by Sunil Birdy and the stretches are specifically designed to be accessible for a wide range of disabilities. These sessions are open to anyone, including day-centres.

PACE Presents… stretches with Sunil

Since the last PACE online there have been a couple of huge upsets in the world of sport – most notably in football where both Manchester United and current Premier League Champions Liverpool, endured humiliating results at the hands of Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively. This led to the group discussing passion in sport and whether the “tough love” approach really works. The overall consensus of the group, particularly from the PACE Boccia squad, was that they perform better under pressure.

With Covid-19 restrictions seemingly extending beyond 2020 and into 2021 at the bare minimum, people’s mental health and the potential harm these restrictions may cause has come back into the news. We’ve heard from many of our members who are shielding that these past few months have been very isolating for them, often only seeing family members.

In response, PACE Pals was born. A weekly online session hosted by Alex Dukes, every Tuesday at 5pm – where members can come and relax, chat with friends and discuss topics that interest them.

The group then did their 15 minutes, full- body stretch, starting with the toes and ending with making the most bizarre facial expressions possible – a definite highlight of the Zoom call.  The next PACE online will take place on the 24th of October, a week before Halloween. To celebrate the occasion many of our members have already committed to dressing up in their scariest costumes. If you have any suggestions for a great Halloween costume, please feel free to let us know in the comment section below.

And keep it locked on the PACE website for the latest news and updates.