Elaine’s Story
When Elaine started volunteering with a Carers First group in her local town of Tiptree, she didn’t imagine it would lead to her becoming a qualified Pilates instructor. Yet, this week Elaine leads her first Care2Relax online group, equally nervous and excited.
Elaine is a Dental Nurse by profession. She had seen first-hand how hard life could be for carers and wanted to help. This prompted her to apply to be a volunteer with Carers First. She started volunteering with her local Carers First group in late 2019. One of the first things she did to help was securing donations from local companies for resource packs for carers in the first lockdown.
When Carers First started an online Pilates class in Spring 2020, Elaine joined to support. To help sustain the group long-term, Carers First secured funding to offer a volunteer the chance to train as a Pilates instructor. After some gentle arm-twisting, Elaine agreed. This started a seven-month journey which sometimes felt more than she bargained for. It included evenings and weekends of study, workshops and exams.
Elaine says she gets a lot from volunteering. “It feels good to help others. The team at Carers First are lovely and I would recommend volunteering with Carers First to anyone.” Elaine is now a trained Pilates instructor! Quotes from Carers who took part:
“The yoga class this morning was just brilliant, especially as it was Elaine’s first one. I felt very relaxed through the class and still feel that way after a roadtrip shopping trip with Mother as weather too good to sit inside. I really love this classes and have even began to play them again another week to try and do a class per week. No pains no aches. Brilliant.” “Thank you for the session today it was excellent”
