November Newsletter
 Hello and welcome to our November newsletter, This newsletter will update you on all things Keep Dancing. Keep Dancing classes in November were all about the Argentine Tango and the Quickstep.If you are a Keep Dancing regular, please do always get in touch if you have a new style of dance you would like to learn or if you have a song that really gets you moving. Your suggestions are always greatly appreciated. Your continued support choosing to keep dancing with us every week is greatly appreciated. Should you ever have feedback about a piece of music or particular dance please always do get in touch. In this month’s newsletter: Keeping in Contact Emergency Contact Details Frequently Asked Questions Wish you were here. Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month Free Public Transport West Midlands Fire Service Safe and Well Checks Are You Email Scam Aware? Mental Health Support Activities for Older Adults in West Bromwich Activities for Older Adults in Acocks Green Resources for CarersKeep Dancing Class Bookings Creating An Account With Us Keep Dancing November Keep Dancing Soundtrack of NovemberKeep Dancing Timetable Paying By Cheque Leave Us a Google Review Contacting GP Surgeries Volunteers Needed Board of Directors Recruitment Keep Dancing Acocks Green Keep Dancing West BromwichKeep Dancing Quinton Keep Dancing Bentley HeathKeep Dancing Moseley Keep Dancing From Home Dates for your Diary – last classes of the year! Keep Dancing for Carers! Keep Dancing for Carers Downloadable Class! Elf Day 2024 Dates! Building Community Together Tea Dance Support us when you shop online Just smile and keep dancing merchandise Thank you for your support! Find out the dances you will be learning in December 2024 Read our BLOG: 5 Benefits of the Quickstep for your Physical and Mental Health Keeping in Contact To avoid missing out on emails and important updates, please ensure both admin@xpress-yourself.co.uk and hello@xpress-yourself.co.uk are marked as safe email address. Additionally, make sure to always check your spam – just make sure the email address of the sender is one of the above.Emergency Contact DetailsPlease ensure you provide us with the correct emergency contact details whilst booking. If you need to update us with any changes regarding your emergency contact, please email these updates to at admin@xpress-yourself.co.uk and they will be updated in due course.Frequently Asked QuestionsEver wondered what will happen to your booking in the rare event we need to cancel a class? Or do you have questions about why some classes are free while others have different prices? Check out our frequently asked questions blog post here for answers to these questions and more! Wish you were here Fancy reminiscing on summer trips and wonderful memories?We love sharing our dancers wish you were here pictures of them striking a pose in front of a famous landmark or special place that has meant something to them this summer.We’d love to see your photos! They will be shared on social media and in our monthly newsletter, providing a wonderful way for our new dancers to get to know our thriving community! Here’s a photo of Lynda James holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy!The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The height of the tower is 55.86 metres from the ground on the low side and 56.67 metres on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 2.44 metres. Its weight is estimated at 14,500 tonnes. The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase.Don’t be shy! Xpress yourself today by uploading your photos to the comments below, sending them via Facebook Messenger, or emailing them to admin@xpress-yourself.co.uk Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month November was Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.Men are three times more likely to die from suicide than women yet are less likely to ask for help or access support for mental health issues. During Men’s Mental Health Month, support systems and awareness campaigns work together to promote healthier behaviours and provide necessary resources for men across the nation. Engaging in conversations about men’s mental health not only supports individuals but strengthens communities. Our cool-down song this month is ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ which was written by Keane’s piano player Tim Rice-Oxley, who told the UK paper The Mirror ‘”It’s about being able to draw strength from a place or experience you’ve shared with someone. I think it’s an idea a lot of people can relate to.” We don’t have many men who attend our classes but for most of us, we have special men in our lives, husbands, brothers, uncles, sons, and friends. Check out our blog post here, for men’s mental health awareness month. Free Public Transport Do you want access to free public transport around the West Midlands? You can apply for an older person’s travel pass, allowing you to travel for free during off peak hours.The pass will allow you to access the following, free of charge: Bus travel between 9.30am – 11.59pm, Monday to Friday Bus travel all day on weekends and public holidaysTrains in the Blue Zone from 9.30am – 11.59pmTrams between 9.30am and the last service of the dayIf you want to travel before 9.30am, simply show your pass and pay just £1.50 for a single fare. Alternatively, you can purchase a pre 9.30am add-on.Those over the age of 66 and living in the West Midlands can apply for a pass. Simply click here to apply online, or you can print the form and send it in the post here.For more information, see the Transport for West Midlands webpage. West Midlands Fire Service – Safe and Well Checks West Midlands Fire Service offer free home safety checks to anyone living in the area who is concerned about fire safety and eager to learn how to reduce their risk. A fire officer visits homes and gives advice about important issues including kitchen safety, smoking materials, electrical safety, escape plans and supply free smoke alarms here. Are You Email Scam Aware? Faye received these emails in her inbox. She opened it because it looked like a trusted email address. It probably was a trusted email address that has been hacked. Our email addresses can be hacked at any time and we know that this happened to some of our dancers.If you were sent this email it could have been from a friend or family member. It might take you off guard. If you receive an email like from someone you know please always phone them to let them know that they email account has been hacked.There are a number of precautions you can take to avoid becoming a victim of email hacking. To stay safe, you can read this article; 13 Steps To Keeping Your Email Safe and Secure You can report suspicious emails by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk, or if you receive an unusual text message you believe could be a scam you can forward it to the number 7726 for free.If you believe you have been victim to a scam or fraud online, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or you can report online here.Visit here for more information on avoiding and reporting online scams. Mental Health Support If you need help for a mental health crisis or emergency, you should get immediate expert advice and assessment. It’s important to know that support services are available for you to access, whatever you’re going through. You can get urgent Mental Health Support from 111 online or by calling 111 and selecting the mental health option. Alternatively you can ask for an urgent GP appointment.111 will tell you the right place to get help. You may be able to speak to a trained mental health professional over the phone.A GP can advise you about helpful treatments and also help you access mental health services. You may be able to refer yourself to some services.Free listening services. These services offer confidential support from trained volunteers. You can talk about anything that’s troubling you, no matter how difficult:Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, or email: jo@samaritans.org for a reply within 24 hoursText “SHOUT” to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line, Activities for Older Adults in West Bromwich Are you a resident of West Bromwich and looking to lead a healthier lifestyle? Do you know someone eager to leave the house and meet new people? Check out our new blog; Activities for Older Adults in West Bromwich. We will be updating this blog with new activities so please let us know if you have any we could add! Activities for Older Adults in Acocks Green Are you a resident of Acocks Green? Are you looking to take care of your Physical, Emotional and Social Wellbeing this winter?Check Out our new blog post: What’s On in Acocks Green 2024. Resources for Carers Here at Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC, we support carers. In addition to our carer classes on offer, we are also happy to provide resources to help support carers and hopefully make their responsibilities a little easier – we are more than happy to help!We have been compiling resources for unpaid carers and putting them into one handy blog post to make navigating help easier. We have our Carer Support Birmingham blog and our Carer Support Sandwell blog which we will continue to update these with resources, so be sure to keep checking in!Here are some examples of useful resources you can access (most of them are FREE):Carers Emergency Response Service (CERS) – This service is FREE and runs across Birmingham and Solihull, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call 0121 442 2960, or email Jane.Cleary@cers.org.uk to arrange an emergency care plan for up to 48 hours (72 hours on bank holidays). Long term care options can also be arranged. Emergency support for carers in Sandwell – This website provides useful information about how to plan for an emergency, including links to valuable resources. There are also details on the free Carer’s Emergency Card Scheme. Walsall Carer’s Hub – A hub of important information and resources. You can register for free with the service here. Bridgit Care – If you want advice, resources or support, you can create your own free self-help plans, as well as access carer support information and speak to advisors. Birmingham Buddhist Centre – Holding multiple FREE events and getaways for carers (see below), this is a great opportunity to relax, unwind, and meet other carers. For the carers breaks, you must be registered with Birmingham Carer’s Hub. Keep Dancing Bookings When booking for your Keep Dancing classes (even if you’re attending a class that is currently FREE because of funding) please can you ensure that you book through the website or let me know by email that you will be coming along. This is the link for booking: www.xpress-yourself.co.uk/dance-classes Also please note that once you have booked and paid for your class the booking is not transferable or refundable if you cancel. Thank you in advance. Creating an Account With Us! Do you find it tiring to repeatedly enter your contact details whenever you book your Keep Dancing class? Don’t worry, you can now set up an account to make the process of booking hassle-free. Alternatively, for a small fee of £1.50, we can set up the account for you! To pay the £1.50 service fee please go to our website here: https://xpress-yourself.co.uk/classes/uncategorised/service-fee/ By setting up an account, you will no longer have to input your contact details every time and can go straight through to booking your class.When setting up your account please note we will send your password to your registered email address, which you can then change as per your preference. When inputting your details, whether during checkout or when setting up your account, please ensure you include an up-to-date emergency contact number. Keep Dancing November Keep Dancing Shirley celebrating our highest class number since before the pandemic! We absolutely do not take your commitment for granted and we are so pleased their are a few more of you enjoying our Keep Dancing Shirley class and are super grateful to the National Lottery, Reaching Communities for supporting this class. Keep Dancing Sutton Coldfield showing us fun and friendship whilst striking their best poses! Our lovely ladies at Keep Dancing Aldridge! Smiles all round 😁 Keep Dancing Aldridge who certainly knew how to Argentine Tango! Keep Dancing Moseley Argentine Tango was certainly on pointe. Keep Dancing Soundtrack of November Want to practise this month’s dances at home? Here are the songs that you have been dancing to this month. You can listen to the playlist here. Keep Dancing Sutton Coldfield November Tea Dance Thank you to everyone who came along to out Keep Dancing #suttoncoldfield Sparkle and Shine tea dance on Friday 29th November. A HUGE thanks to our three fantastic volunteers from Mitie, they were incredible. We were so busy that these are our only photos, we would love to see any photos or videos you may have taken. Please send them to admin@xpress-yourself.co.uk. Over the next couple of weeks we will be compiling our impact report for this project, keep an eye out for it.Finally we are extremely grateful that funding from Sutton Coldfield NNS allowed us to run these events this year and help to build shared communities through dance.  Thank you! Keep Dancing Timetable Places for all classes are limited so booking in advance is essential. Classes will always go on sale a week in advance on a Monday at 10am. See our timetable below for all of our Keep Dancing classes now running or about to launch! Paying by Cheque We are now incurring bank charges for paying in cheques, meaning that sadly we have to look at passing on the costs. At the same time we are aware that for some people paying by cheque is their only option and we would not want this to be too much of an inconvenience or prohibit anyone from joining our classes, so we have looked at how this extra cost can be shared. Therefore, if you pay for a class each week by cheque, the cost will be £5.80. However if you pay for more than one class at a time by cheque, we will pay the charge so that classes remain at £5.50 each. On the back of the cheque please make a note of which class dates you are paying for, as the bookings will be non-transferable or refundable, in line with all other bookings. Also, if paying by cheque, please make it payable to Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC and please email admin@xpress-yourself.co.uk for the address to post your cheque to. We are not able to accept cheques at class, thank you for your understanding.Leave us a Google Review Happy with our dance classes? Help us spread the word by leaving us a Google review here. Contacting GP Surgeries Thank you to everyone who has shared details of their GP surgery so far; we are grateful for your support. Please note we are still gathering this information as part of our marketing strategy. To fill out the form, click on the link below. Your responses will remain anonymous, and completing the form will only take a brief moment of your time, yet will greatly help us.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9jd4XpMXArlIbmpoXAlWwu_l65842gvJ6vy_pEiRkQUihIg/viewform?usp=pp_urlVolunteers needed!We are looking to recruit volunteers to support our ongoing work. If you or someone you know is looking to make a difference in 2024 then perhaps you, or they may consider volunteering for us. You will be given training opportunities to further develop your skills. Keep Dancing Host – maybe you know someone who would like the benefits of Keep Dancing (meeting new people, feeling a sense of community but unable to join in with the dancing). We would like to introduce our Volunteer Keep Dancing Hosts who will be responsible for welcoming people to our Keep Dancing classes, introducing them to other members, offering extra support to anyone who may need it, taking photographs of the session, and capturing any golden moments within our sessions. Our Keep Dancing classes run weekly. Admin/marketing support– If you have experience in admin and marketing, and perhaps you love a spreadsheet and would like to utilise your skills on a voluntary basis. We would love to hear from you.To find out more information about our Volunteering positions please email Faye at hello@xpress-yourself.co.uk, or check out our Volunteers Wanted blog. Board of Directors Recruitment It is an exciting time for Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC having recently secured funding from the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund.Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC are now looking for new voluntary board members to join our team to help drive our organisation further forward.Are you looking to give back and volunteer a couple of hours every other month to share your expertise to support a not for profit community organisation to further develop and grow?Do you have skills in business development and planning, financial acumen, marketing, HR , public health or an understanding of the challenges facing any small business seeking to grow.Could you help us further reach our potential?If you are tempted, find out more information here: https://xpress-yourself.co.uk/board-member-vacancy/ Keep Dancing Acocks Green Update! We are delighted to tell you all that Keep Dancing Acocks Green is back! Thanks to generous funding by The National Lottery Reaching Communities fund, the class will be just £2!Join us every Monday 10am – 11am at Fox Hollies Forum in Acocks Green to kickstart your week off right.We hope to see you there!Keep Dancing West BromwichBook your space now for Keep Dancing West Bromwich! Every Wednesday, 11.30am – 12.30pm in the West Bromwich Leisure Centre dance studio.The class has been supported by The National Lottery which mean the class is heavily subsidized and will just be £2! You can book your place here. Come and join our lovely dancers for a bit of gentle midweek exercise. Keep Dancing QuintonStart your morning off right with our Keep Dancing Quinton class, every Thursday 9.15am – 10.15am at Quinton Methodist Church.If you would like to join us (or know someone who might!), you can book your class here. New dancers can book their first class for just £1.50 using the code newdancer at checkout. So why not come along and give it a go? Keep Dancing Bentley Heath Thanks to funding from Solihull Fairer Futures Fund, Keep Dancing Bentley Heath will now cost just £2. We are over the moon with this outcome, as I’m sure you are too, so grab those dancing shoes and come and join us on Thursdays 11.30am – 12.30pm! Keep Dancing Moseley Thanks to funding from Hall Green NNS, Keep Dancing Moseley will continue to run, fully funded and so the class is FREE. New classes are published here every Monday at 10am, so be sure to book quickly to avoid disappointment. (Please note the classes are published via an automated system and are not always uploaded on time. However, they are usually live by 10.30am). Keep Dancing Moseley is exceptionally popular at the moment, with the class being fully booked since January. We are sorry if you have been unable to attend the class.If you cannot find your Keep Dancing Moseley class on the website, it is most likely sold out and has been removed. Sometimes the class will not be removed from the website immediately, so if you are trying to book Keep Dancing Moseley but it does not take you to checkout, it is likely sold out.If you book a place but can’t make it, please do let us know so someone else can come along. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for Keep Dancing Moseley, just pop us an email. We’ll let you know if a space becomes available.If you are able, our Keep Dancing Harborne runs on a Tuesday 13:30-14:30, and our Keep Dancing Shirley class on a Tuesday 13:00-14:00. If you have caring responsibilities or have had caring responsibilities you may want to come along to our Keep Dancing for carers class (same usual keep dancing class) at Shenley Court Hall on a Wednesday 13:15-14:15. Booking in advance (as always) is essential!Keep Dancing from HomeKeep Dancing From Home classes continue to run on Zoom. Our Wednesday 09:30-10:30 class will teach you the same routines that you are learning in our face to face Keep Dancing classes to make sure you don’t miss a step if one week you cant attend your usual Keep Dancing class. Our Wednesday class will also become the class where we welcome people who are carers to dance with us online as part of our Keep Dancing for Carers project. If you dance with us regularly online or use the class as an alternative if you cannot make your usual Keep Dancing class you are still VERY welcome to join us.If you know anyone with caring responsibilities who would be able to access our online class please do let them know! On a Friday our Keep Dancing Greatest Hits class will recap dances that have been taught in previous months, so if you have a favourite routine that you would love to dance again watch out for the Greatest Hits dances. Book hereDates For Your Diary – Last Classes of the YearThe following classes will be the last classes of 2024 on the following dates: Keep Dancing Acocks Green last class of 2024 will be Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Garretts Green last class of 2024 will be Monday 9th DecemberKeep Dancing Sutton Coldfield last class of 2024 will be Monday 9th DecemberKeep Dancing Aldridge last class of 2024 will be Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Shirley last class of 2024 will be Tuesday 10th December Keep Dancing Harborne last class of 2024 will be Tuesday 3rd December Keep Dancing for Carers (Online & Shenley) last class of 2024 will be Wednesday 4th December Keep Dancing West Bromwich last class of 2024 will be Wednesday 4th December Keep Dancing Sheldon last class of 2024 will be Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Quinton last class of 2024 will be Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Marston Green last class of 2024 will be Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Moseley last class of 2024 will be Thursday 5th December Keep Dancing Bentley Heath last class of 2024 will be Thursday 12th DecemberKeep Dancing Greatest Hits last class of 2024 will be Friday 15th December Please note that going forward, Keep Dancing Greatest Hits will not run on the last Friday of the month. Keep Dancing for Carers! Inspired by Keep Dancing participants stories of caring for loved ones and Keep Dancing classes being their happy hour of the week and opportunity to look after their own health and wellbeing, we are delighted that Forward Carers CIC has funded our Keep Dancing for carers project.Two classes will run, one in person and one online for carers. If you know carers who may benefit from this Free Keep Dancing class please let them know.We will also implement a downloadable Keep Dancing for Carers class, for those who are unable to make our classes in person. This will be a half hour pre-recorded online class, accessed through a link sent via email. Starting at once a month, this could become a regular opportunity so stay tuned.What makes someone a carer? You or someone you know could classify as a carer without realising. Take a look at this article by Forward Carers CIC to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a carer. Keep Dancing for Carers Downloadable Class! We are excited to announce our brand new FREE pre-recorded downloadable class for carers. A monthly half hour session for those unable to join us for our online or in-person carer classes, but don’t want to miss out on the dancing.After booking the class, you will receive a link via email to download the video. The link will expire within 7 days.Here at Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC we support carers. If you feel like you need additional support or advice we can make a referral to Birmingham Carers Hub. Please do just get in touch with us, we are happy to help. Elf Day 2024 Dates! In December at Xpress-Yourself we are taking part in Elf Day in support of Alzheimer’s UK. During our Xpress-YourELF day we encourage you to come to class dressed as an elf to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s UK. This year we will be having some festive fun with Rock N Roll routines! Below are the dates each class will be taking part: Keep Dancing Harborne will be taking part in ELF DAY on Tuesday 3rd December Keep Dancing for carers Shenley Court person will be taking part in ELF DAY on Wednesday 4th December Keep Dancing for carers online will be taking part in ELF DAY on Wednesday 4th December Keep Dancing West Bromwich will be taking part in ELF DAY on Wednesday 4th December Keep Dancing Moseley will be taking part in ELF DAY on Thursday 5th December Keep Dancing Aldridge will be taking part in ELF DAY on Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Sutton Coldfield will be taking part in ELF DAY on Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Acocks Green will be taking part in ELF Day on Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Garretts Green will be taking part in ELF DAY on Monday 9th December Keep Dancing Shirley will be taking part in ELF DAY on Tuesday 10th December Keep Dancing Sheldon will be taking part in ELF DAY on Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Quinton will be taking part in ELF DAY on Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Bentley Heath will be taking part in ELF DAY on Thursday 12th December Keep Dancing Marston Green will be taking part in ELF Thursday 12th December Here’s Garrets Greens Elf Day from 2023! Big smiles, amazing dance routines and festive fun to look forward to! Building Community Together Tea Dance The next building community together tea dance with be on 18th December 2024 at Acocks Green Baptist Church.Take a look at the last Building Community Together Tea Dance here To book your place please contact Estelle at estelledbct@gmail.com Support us when you shop online You will be unsurprised to hear that room hire for many of our groups has recently increased. We are keen to not increase our prices for Keep Dancing classes but we do ask for your support. If you are partial to a little bit of online shopping you can support Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC every time you shop. We are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can help us for FREE. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! All you need to do is sign up and remember to use easyfundraising whenever you shop online. It’s easy and completely FREE! These donations really will mount up and ensure that we can continue to run classes where you book by the week, and not by the month, with no price increase so please sign up to support here So far £208.75 has been raised. This money will be used towards a monthly hall hire at one of our nine venues. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to support us and have been online shopping with us in mind, your support is greatly appreciated. New Merchandise! Our new motto as seen above is now featured on what could be your very own mug. The perfect gift for the favourite dancer in your life or a nice little treat for yourself. Mugs are £10 inclusive of postage and packaging . (Items are sent 2nd class recorded delivery) Mugs are ceramic white and are the motto is printed on both sides of the mug. Dishwasher and microwave friendly. If you would like to order one please visit our website or click the button below. Sweatshirts are also now available to order.The sweatshirt is grey, lightweight with raglan sleeves and has gorgeous embroidery. £24 inclusive of postage and packaging (Items are sent 2nd class recorded delivery) We have the following sizes in stock and ready for immediate dispatch. Size 12 – SOLD OUT Size 14 – SOLD OUT Size 16 – SOLD OUT Size 18 – QTY 2Should you require another size please get in touch and we can get ordered for you. If you would like to order one please visit our website or click the button below.Buy Now Thank you for your support! During these unprecedented times we have been so grateful for your continued support. Whether that be continuing to interact with our Facebook page, leaving us reviews, telling your friends about our classes and booking onto our Keep Dancing classes. Your support is truly appreciated and we hope to continue keep dancing into the future. If you have the time please ;Leave us a Facebook Review here Subscribe to our YouTube Channel here Follow us on Instagram @xpre55your5elfdance Increasing our social following will certainly help us rebuild our small business in 2025. Thank you so much! December Keep Dancing Dances The theme for December will be Rock N Roll with a Rock N Roll Waltz choreographed by Faye O’Connor. Greatest Hits dances will be dancing to Por Una Cabeza- Argentine Tango and Put a lid on it – Charleston. Blog! 5 Benefits of the Quickstep for your Physical and Mental Health Discover 5 Benefits of the Quickstep for your Physical and Mental Health here. If you would like the opportunity to be a guest blogger and feature in our newsletter. Get in touch! We love to boogie! The Xpress-Yourself Team |
