Why is St Hilda's East launching a Planking Challenge?

Everyone is welcomed at our Community Centre, and the impact of our work can change lives! We promote social contact and wellbeing through engaging activities for all ages, equipping our service users with the resilience to navigate modern life. All of our activities are free to the community but just to keep the lights on – in other words, to cover our CORE costs - we need to raise over £600,000 every year.

On top of that, we urgently need to replace our defunct gas boiler and improve insulation in the building, reducing our heating bills and our carbon footprint. Therefore in this, our 135th year, we are launching a challenge to raise funds to ensure that we can continue to enrich lives in the Tower Hamlets community for years to come.

To learn more about what we do, please enjoy a short video: https://youtu.be/KYxmHpXhLsk

or visit our website at https://sthildas.org.uk/

Why have we chosen a Planking Challenge?

Core strength is critical to almost every move we make - bending to pick up items off the floor, twisting to see if the coast is clear when driving - and a plank position is the ideal exercise for strengthening those crucial core muscles. There are many variations so it's accessible for almost everyone, regardless of ability or current fitness level. No special equipment is required – all you need is your body, a floor or a chair, and just over 2 minutes per day!

How can I help?

By joining our ‘135 for 135 Planking Challenge’ team and pledging to raise £135 through sponsorship, you will be helping to ensure that we can continue making a life-changing impact in the Tower Hamlets community.

Every £10 you raise will pay for refreshments for an Over 50’s drop-in social session, providing a lifeline for those who are feeling isolated; £20 provides supplies for our Brave Girls and Boys Groups where young people can explore their creativity, build their self-esteem, and gain confidence, and £50 pays for a cognitive development session in our Sensory Room for children under 5, which alongside our Stay & Play programme provides a safe space and practical and emotional support for families.

To grow the funds even further, challenge your family, friends and colleagues to join our team - the bigger the team the more money we can raise!

What’s In It For Me?

The feel-good factor of raising money for a great cause, and the satisfaction of knowing that your efforts are helping sustain the core of the SHE Community Centre for the next 135 years … not to mention the fun and motivation of participating in a team challenge! Plus you will be working on your own wellbeing - exercise can have a positive effect on your mental health, and your body will thank you too!

So please join us to build a stronger core for yourself and for St Hilda's East, and every penny you raise will go towards delivering transformational services to our community - you will truly be making a difference!

Before you get started, here is some important information and some tips about planking which you might find useful:

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