The Busby Place Massage and Social Group for over-50 year old residents in the London Borough of Camden has been running for over 15 years in the Kentish Town Community Centre, and has many local loyal clients, some of them over the age of 70, and one aged 97. The aim of the group is to keep people away from their doctor for not only muscular issues but also mental health issues, as a lot of the clients live alone. Being able to meet with friends each week for tea, cake, chat and a treatment helps lift their mood as well as treating muscular problems. The massage sessions bring them together, and the social aspect helps prevent loneliness and depression. We helped 192 clients in 6 months.

 The Busby Place Group runs for two hours each week, Within those two hours 8 clients have a massage treatment. Each client pays £5 for a 10/15 minutes Massage session. There is an overhead cost of £60 for the two hours so even if all 8 clients turn up that’s still only £40 leaving a deficit of £20. The amount charged to each person could be increased to cover the extra cost, but the project is meant to be affordable for the local community, so increasing the cost will be counter-productive.

 Our funding through the Centre is being withdrawn and so we have to close in May unless we can raise the small amount needed. The benefits to members is mobility, independence, and social interaction to keep them active in our community. The benefit to the community is helping reduce the costs of social care.

 To keep our Busby Place Group going for the next year we need to raise £3,000. Can you help? Even the smallest contribution helps make a big difference.

Many thanks