Brixton’s Rhythms Club secures Sport England backing
Unbound Moving Arts’ Rhythms Club is celebrating after being awarded £6,837 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to help continue its work with older adults in Brixton. The funding will support 41 weeks of free, accessible movement classes for over-60s, delivered in partnership with Age UK Lambeth and MySocial.
Since 2022, and based at the Vida Walsh Centre in Brixton, The Rhythms Club has grown into a lively and welcoming weekly space for older people to come together through music, movement and connection. Designed to be fully inclusive of different mobility needs, the classes support participants to move at their own pace – standing, seated, or using movement aids – while building confidence, expression and community.
The project serves a richly diverse older community in Lambeth, including many participants over 70, many living alone, and many managing long-term health conditions or disability. Unbound Moving Arts’ experience has shown that the classes can help improve mobility, reduce stress and anxiety, ease loneliness, and create meaningful social connection.
Nikki Ashley, Executive Director of Unbound Moving Arts and project lead, said:
“We are delighted to receive this funding from Sport England. Week after week, we witness genuine transformation: older people come into the room carrying tiredness, pain, stress or isolation, and leave with more energy, more confidence and a renewed sense of connection. To see that shift happen through movement, music and community is extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful for this support.”
Jess Jarvis, Head of Commercial Services & Volunteering at Age UK Lambeth, said:
“At Age UK Lambeth, we see firsthand how The Rhythms Club brings joy, connection and wellbeing to older people in our community. It is more than dance — it is a safe, welcoming space where people can express themselves, make friends and feel part of something truly special.”
One participant described the project as:
“It's about returning to myself - I had a stroke and I'm getting to know my body again, and back to the dancing that i love.”
Alongside this new funding, Unbound Moving Arts is also recognising the support of the wider 5Rhythms community. Over the summer, Berlin 5Rhythms teachers Dagmar Cee and Bettina Leuckert, together with fellow teachers and dancers, raised £1,040 for The Rhythms Club through their annual charity workshop Magic Moments – a generous contribution that has helped strengthen the project’s work with older people in Brixton.
